Captain's Daughter
by SnowLabrador
Summary: Ash is moving to Pastoria City in order to go to college. He's staying in a mansion owned by the manager of a cruise line, and the captain's daughter, Serena, is extremely attractive to him. Needless to say, things are going to go down. Amourshipping, Fortuneshipping. Rated T for swearing and suggestive themes. No lemons.
1. We're On The Train To Pastoria

**Disclaimer: SnowLucario does not own Pokemon.**

 **It's my two-year anniversary of being on ! To celebrate, I bring to you my most ambitious project yet: Captain's Daughter!**

 **The title for this story comes from the name of an old method of corporal punishment that was used for disobedient sailors. "Captain's daughter" is a euphemism for something far worse.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"Attention, all passengers. Train 25B to Pastoria City will be departing in five minutes. Get to the platform immediately, or you will miss it".

That was the last thing Ash Ketchum wanted to hear. He'd been looking forward to this trip for so long that he found himself running frantically towards the platform, lugging a suitcase and carrying a backpack at the same time. This wouldn't be an easy task under even the best of circumstances, which these were not.

He'd arrived at the station with ten minutes to spare, but had eaten up four of those precious minutes just trying to find his way around. The Jubilife City central station, from which he would be departing, was extremely crowded on this in-demand morning, with throngs of people all about.

Ash found himself running at an extremely fast speed, to the point that he crashed into some lady who was carrying a series of suitcases on a dolly, upsetting it and causing all of the suitcases to crash to the ground.

He didn't stop to say sorry, though, and, really, he wasn't sorry. In his opinion, the ends justified the means; judging by the direction in which the woman had been heading, it was unlikely that she had a train to catch, whereas Ash _did,_ and he was running late.

"Attention, all passengers. Train 25B to Pastoria City will be departing in two minutes. Get to the platform immediately, or you will miss it".

That put another spring in Ash's step. Knowing that he was in dire straits now in terms of time, he began flat-out sprinting.

Finally, he found the train with _25B_ plastered across in large orange characters. It was extremely hard to miss, and that was a good thing, because he very well could have missed it at the speed he was running.

Ash hefted his suitcase upwards and stepped onto the train. It was just in the nick of time, too, because, seconds after he made his way up the stairs, the doors closed, and the train began moving.

The young man (age 19) grabbed onto the nearby pole in order to steady himself as the train began travelling out of the station. He legitimately hadn't thought he would make it onto this train, and yet he had...so that was one thing he had going for him.

 _Now, to find my seat…_

Looking at his ticket, Ash saw that he was supposed to sit in compartment 4F. Walking into the first car with compartments, he saw that they were labelled 1A, 1B, 1C, and so on.

 _That must mean that compartment 4F is the sixth one in the fourth car. Yes, that makes sense._

He breathed a sigh of relief. His legs were trembling from the amount of running he had just done, and he didn't particularly want to stand for the whole ride, while still holding his luggage.

When Ash reached the end of the car, he stepped on the switch that opened the door. He was probably attracting a lot of attention from the other passengers, most of whom had already gotten settled in their compartments, but he didn't care. He was only focused on himself.

"Let's find this thing" he said out loud. He didn't think anyone had heard him, though, which was a good thing. It would have been a bit embarrassing to have been overheard talking to himself.

He clutched his Pokeball, which contained his Pokemon partner, tightly in his hand. From the day he had met Coyopa the Pikachu, at the tender age of ten, he'd known that he could count on the little yellow guy. He was very adorable, but he was also extremely loyal to his master, and he never forgot that Ash was in charge.

 _4C...4D...4E...yes, there it is. 4F._

Ash opened the sliding door and entered his compartment. Nobody else was there; there was only a rack for luggage and six seats, three on each side.

Once he had sat down, he looked outside the window. The train had just left the heart of downtown Jubilife City, which was the largest city in Sinnoh. The trip to Pastoria City would take roughly seven hours, so it would give him plenty of time to think.

Ash clutched the Pokeball in his hand so hard that the latter turned white. He considered letting Coyopa out, but he then decided against it, reason being that Pokemon had to stay in their Pokeballs for the duration of the ride.

Unfortunately, that would mean that Ash was alone. Five minutes after he had boarded the train, nobody else had entered his compartment, so he took that as a definite sign that he was correct on that count.

As Ash looked outside at the grasslands surrounding Jubilife City, he also thought of something else. More specifically, the reason he was on this train to begin with.

Ash was moving eastward in order to attend Greater Pastoria University. As a result, he'd had to find a place to live. The only problem was that the boy had had no desire to live in a dormitory.

And so a solution had to be found. Luckily for Ash, his father knew a wealthy businessman from the area, Dominick Courtland, who ran a line of cruise ships and lived in a mansion near Pastoria City.

He'd also been told that the "captain", as Mr. Courtland was called, had five children, and his oldest daughter was a girl named Serena. Serena was his age, and also enrolling at GPU that year.

 _Wow, I hope she's hot,_ the boy thought to himself.

Ash's stomach started turning at the thought. The way his father had described Serena, it sure sounded as though he had been trying to persuade Ash that she was attractive. And the thought made the young man rather nervous. He had never been in a romantic relationship before.

Little did he know, that was about to change.

* * *

The scenery outside the window changed. Soon, it was not grasslands, but forests, that the train was passing. Large pine trees dotted the area, and, what was more, there were the clearest streams Ash had ever seen.

 _I bet those in the Coronet Range are even clearer,_ Ash thought to himself. _Don't get too far ahead of yourself._

As the train moved further and further east, Ash grew increasingly hungry. He hadn't brought any food in his backpack, nor any money to buy it in the dining car. There just hadn't been any room. He had eaten breakfast, but it had been pretty small, and, besides, that had been hours ago now.

 _Dominick Courtland probably has a ton of chefs to prepare the most extravagant meals...oh, boy, I can't wait to get there._

An hour passed, and then two, and then three, and the scenery kept changing. One moment, it was a deciduous forest, with Deerling playing near the tracks. The next, they were on a bridge several hundred feet over a raging river. And a moment later still, they were next to the ocean.

 _Man, I'm glad to live in Sinnoh,_ Ash thought. _There are so many beautiful places here...if only I wasn't so hungry._

After what felt like hours (because it _was_ hours), the conductor made an announcement over the loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Pastoria City in fifteen minutes' time. I repeat, fifteen minutes until we arrive in Pastoria City".

Suddenly, Ash grew excited. He was being borne towards his dream, of studying in Pastoria City. And he couldn't wait to meet the captain's daughter. It sounded as though she was pretty nice, at least from what his father had told him.

It wasn't long until the conductor made another announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Pastoria City in five minutes' time. I repeat, five minutes until we arrive in Pastoria City".

Ash instinctively grabbed his luggage; he couldn't help himself. He wanted to be ready to spring into action and get off of the train once they arrived at the station.

Looking outside his window, Ash saw it. Pastoria City.

It was a large city, although not as large as Jubilife City was. Draped against pine forests and snow-capped mountains in the background, it was set on a patch of low-lying ground that appeared like it could sink at any moment, due to being only three feet above sea level.

Not only that, but the harbor was beautiful as well. Ash could see that there were a great many boats docked there, many of them luxury yachts. _I suppose this must be where the rich and famous live,_ he thought.

Ash could hardly wait. Soon, he'd be at the mansion, and be able to eat something again. His stomach was starting to hurt now from hunger.

 _You'll eat soon, Ash,_ the young man told himself. _So please stop grumbling, stupid stomach._

Eventually, the train ground to a halt, and Ash, using his suitcase to steady himself, got to his feet. He was feeling quite lethargic as a result of seven hours of mostly just sitting down, as well as not having had lunch.

"We have arrived in Pastoria City. Doors are now open".

Ash made his way to the nearest exit and got off the train.

The Pastoria station wasn't quite as crowded as the one in Jubilife City. That said, however, there was a large number of people there, and Ash frequently found himself jostling others in his haste to find the person who would take him to the mansion.

His father had told him that Serena Courtland would meet him at the station, but he didn't have any idea what she looked like; Mr. Ketchum hadn't given his son any physical description.

But then, Ash remembered something else.

His father had told him that she'd be holding a sign with his name on it. All the boy had to look for were the places where people were holding signs, like they did at airports for people coming home from military service.

Eventually, he found it. A sign saying, _ASH KETCHUM,_ in large blue block letters. And, holding it, there was a girl.

She was tall and blonde, with gray eyes. Ash could only assume that this was Serena.

"Are you Serena?" he asked her, just to confirm.

She nodded. "And you are Ash Ketchum? My father said he looked a lot like you do".

The boy nodded. "Yes, I am Ash Ketchum".

Ash's stomach suddenly gave a loud rumble.

"You must be hungry. Didn't you eat lunch on the train?"

The young man shook his head. "I didn't have any lunch on the train" he said.

"You must be _very_ hungry. In any case, I'll drive you there, unless you have your license?"

"Nope. Just my permit" Ash replied.

"All right, then. Come with me".

* * *

 **Yes, this is a short chapter. The chapter lengths will fluctuate with whatever the plot demands. And this is going to be a long one, so buckle your seatbelts. I found a plot for this story I was happy with, and I'm going to stick with it.**

 **In the next chapter, I'm going to respond to all of your reviews, so make sure you leave one.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	2. The Courtland Mansion

**Here is the second chapter of the future American classic, Captain's Daughter! Okay, I could never publish it or Nintendo would have my ass. That said, I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy reading it even more.**

 **Disclaimer: SnowLucario doesn't own shit.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Serena led Ash away from the platform. The boy was too tired and hungry to focus after his long journey; all he wanted was to get to the mansion, whatever it was like, and have a nice big meal.

"I parked in the garage near here" she said. "If only I can remember what space I parked in…".

Ash didn't say anything. He didn't really have anything meaningful to contribute to the conversation, at any rate. He was completely deferring to Serena at this point as she helped him through the confusing throngs of people.

And it really was confusing. Even though it wasn't as _crowded_ as the station in Jubilife City had been, it felt as though this place had been designed to be as difficult to navigate as possible. He made sure that he never lost sight of Serena as she led him towards the garage where she said her car was.

Eventually, she led him to what looked like a luxury car of some sort. Of course, Ash wasn't exactly a connoisseur of automobiles, so he didn't suppose that he had much to say on the subject.

Of course, however, there was the fact that Serena was extremely wealthy. At least, her father was. No wonder she drove such a fancy car.

"This is my car" she said unnecessarily. "Get in the passenger seat".

Ash did as he was told; he didn't feel as though he was in any state to resist.

As Serena backed out of the parking garage, Ash had a mountain of questions to ask her. First on the list was, what would be for dinner? Also, what were her siblings like? Ash really didn't know what to picture.

"Now, my siblings will introduce themselves to you once we arrive at the estate. There'll be no need to introduce yourself, because they will have known that you are coming, and they will all be ready for you".

Ash nodded, even though he knew that the young woman was focused on paying attention to the road, and was probably not looking at him.

"I'm eighteen" she said. "I'm enrolling at Greater Pastoria University tomorrow; did my father tell you that?"

"He didn't" Ash replied. "In fact, I never actually spoke to him. My parents did tell me that, though".

"I see" Serena replied, taking a left turn. "We'll be at the estate in about an hour. Enjoy the views".

Serena, after taking a couple more turns, drove them onto a two-lane highway that ran right alongside the water. Even though it had been hot and sunny in Jubilife City, in Pastoria City, seven hundred miles to the east, it was raining, although only slightly.

"We get a lot of rain here in Pastoria" the girl told Ash. "But we also get a lot of snow. It's just a very wet city, which I suppose is something you get when you're near the coast. In any case, I'm a fan of snow, so that's not a problem for me. Indeed, when you live anywhere in Sinnoh, you have to get used to snow".

 _This girl talks a mile a minute!_ , Ash thought. _Is there any way to escape it?_

 _Uh, yeah, you could open the car door, but that's pretty dangerous to do on a highway._

 _Are you crazy, mind? Of course I'd never do that!_

 _Then you're stuck with her until you reach the estate. And for the rest of your year at the university. So deal with it, Ash._

"Nice" Ash replied, trying to pay lip service to that very long statement. He hoped that he was succeeding.

Serena drove them past pine forests and over bridges, up hills and over valleys. Eventually, they were high over Pastoria City, and it was possible to have a great view of the city and its harbor.

"Do you live on top of one of these hills?" Ash asked Serena.

"Nope" she replied. "Down the next of these hills, there's a town called Sanderson. We live not too far beyond it, a little bit inland".

"Ah" the boy said in return. "So you don't live right by the sea".

"No, not _right_ by it" Serena said. "That said, I think you'll find the area surrounding my home quite beautiful".

Most of the rest of the ride passed in silence. Occasionally, Serena would point out one of the interesting rock formations they passed, or the various foothills of the Eastern Coastal Range. For the most part, however, she stayed quiet.

The silence only had the effect of making Ash more nervous. He knew that, as soon as he arrived at the estate, he would have a lot of answers to his question. The question was, did he want those answers?

After an hour on the road, just like Serena had said, they came to a small country road that led to a mansion. And yes, it was a mansion.

The house was on the edge of a hill, so there was reason to believe that there was some sort of basement that was sort of underground, but not really. Even without the potential basement, the house had three floors, as well as a roof with parapets.

It was shaped somewhat like a stereotypical castle would be, with towers placed along the roof. It was clear to see that, surrounded by some of the parapets, there was a Jacuzzi. It was steaming, indicating that there was somebody in it at the moment, but it was hard to tell whom it was from this juncture.

"Oh, that's just Lucas and Dawn" Serena said, answering the question that was in Ash's thoughts.

When the boy looked confused, Serena explained further. "They just come hang out sometimes. They're going to be dining with us tonight; do you have a problem with that?"

Ash shook his head. At this point, he was so hungry that he didn't care whom he would be eating with; all he wanted to do was eat.

Serena pressed a code by the door. "This door isn't locked with a key, it's locked with a code" she explained. "We feel safer this way. I'm not going to tell you the code, at least not just yet".

"I understand" the young man replied. "You don't trust me fully yet".

"It's not that" Serena replied. "It's just that...well, it's no matter".

She punched in the code, which seemed to contain eight digits. After a small green light flashed, she opened the door.

"Mom? Dad? Ash is here!" she called.

A woman whom Ash could only assume was Serena's mother came running down the stairs. She was slightly plump, with relatively short blonde hair and glasses. She looked quite dignified, but Ash had a hard time imagining what political figure of Sinnoh she looked like. That face really did look familiar.

"No, I'm not a politician" she said to Ash, as though reading his thoughts. "I'm Debbie Courtland, Serena's mother, and the mother of four other children besides". She patted Ash on the back. "It's nice to meet you".

The young man smiled. "It's nice to meet you as well. Where's Serena's father?"

"Dominick is on a work call at the moment" Debbie said, sounding a little bit irritated. "I get that he is the manager of a cruise line, but he could do to spend a _little_ more time with his family, am I right?"

As Debbie walked away, Serena turned to Ash. "My father goes on a lot of work calls. Even when we're on vacation sometimes, it'll get interrupted by a call. Once, we were in the middle of a canopy tour when...ring, ring! It was the phone".

Ash laughed; he couldn't help himself. The mental image of that scene was quite something.

"Come on, Ash. Let me show you around" the young woman said, waving a hand backwards through her blonde hair.

Ash followed her into the large living room, which had a very nice view of a couple of large hills (or did they qualify as mountains?) in the Coastal Range.

"They ski there in the winter" the girl told him. "But that's not where _we_ are going this Christmas. We're going somewhere way better".

"Where to?" Ash asked. Once again, he couldn't help himself.

"We're going to the Coronet Range" she replied. "That's where we go skiing every year. I hope that you're a decent skier".

"I; I'm okay" Ash replied. In reality, he had never been skiing before, but he didn't have the guts to tell Serena that.

"Good" Serena replied. "Once we're actually there, I don't want you to end up slowing us down".

Ash took solace in the fact that there were still three and a half months until Christmas vacation began, a little more than that even, so he had plenty of time until that happened.

 _In a way, it's worse, though,_ he thought grimly. _I have three and a half months to worry about this._

"Is there a place where I can let Coyopa out to play?" he asked Serena.

"Yes; you can let him out into the yard once I've given you the tour" the girl replied. "I'll show you the way around this house first, though".

First, she pointed out how, next to the enormous living room, there was a kitchen. There were also a couple of bedrooms adjacent to it. "You'll be staying in the one right next to this room" Serena said, pointing to the room that she meant. "You might as well drop your stuff there, not have to lug it around the house. Besides, my parents don't like it when the wheels of a suitcase mess everything up".

Ash nodded obediently.

"So put your stuff there, and you can organize your clothes later" she told him. "I'll show you the rest of the house, and, let me tell you, there is a lot of it".

In the corner of the living room, there was a spiral staircase that led up to the second floor. Serena led him down the staircase into the "basement".

It might have technically been a basement, but it could also have passed for the first floor. One could see the mountain from here through a door.

"There are more bedrooms here, and my siblings will probably be around here somewhere...oh, they're probably in the pool".

Ash's eyes opened wide. "You have a pool?"

Serena nodded. "Yeah, it's in this basement. Let me see...yep, they're in there all right. Probably best not to bother them".

"I guess they're enjoying themselves" Ash replied.

"Yep. They love the pool. Of course, I love it as well; what is there not to love about the pool?"

Ash smiled.

"We also have a sauna here, which is only if you really like the heat" Serena replied. "Do you like the heat, Ash?"

"I mean...not really. I guess I won't be using it very much at all, then".

Serena nodded. "That would be advisable. If you ever change your mind, though, just make sure you aren't in there very long, and that you stay very well hydrated, or else you might pass out".

Judging by the manner in which she had said that, Ash guessed that she or some member of her family, or someone she knew in general, had learned that the hard way.

"In any case", she said, "the other rooms, besides this small living room here, are all bedrooms for one of my siblings. I'd say that it's better not to go look in there; I want to respect their privacy, you know?"

Since Ash also liked it when his privacy was respected, he did not comment, instead following Serena as she led him back upstairs. This time, she led him up another flight of the spiral staircase, all the way to the next floor.

"There are really only two floors in this house" the girl said. "I know it looks like three from the other side, but the bottom floor is considered a basement for whatever reason. I always found that kind of confusing, even though this is the only home I've ever known".

 _Of course,_ Ash thought bitterly. _She was born in the lap of luxury._

Ash didn't find her annoying, though, or snobbish. She might have been a rich girl, but she wasn't a _snobbish_ rich girl. Whenever she laughed, which she had done once or twice that he had seen so far, it had been such a pure sound that it could have melted snow off of a mountainside, or so it seemed to Ash.

Soon, she led him past what appeared to be a home office, and she motioned for Ash to be quiet.

"Dad's working in there" she whispered. "That's where he takes his calls, in the office. It's really better if we stay quiet - we don't want to make him angry".

After the young man gave Serena what must have been a fairly confused look, she said, "Oh, he doesn't hit us. But he gets really mad, to the point that you _wish_ he had hit you".

 _I'll be careful not to get on his bad side,_ Ash thought, making a mental note to himself that he wasn't going to. He was determined to get through this, because he could make this be either the most amazing time of his life or the most hellish time of his life, and that might be determined by how well he could get along with Dominick Courtland.

"I'll show you the tower; that's where the hot tub is" Serena said, leading Ash to the end of the catwalk they were standing on. From here, they had a bird's-eye view of the living room, and an excellent view of the area surrounding the house.

She led him past a door and to another spiral staircase. There were two people already making their way down it, however, wrapped in towels and dripping wet.

One of them was a young man carrying a beret, with dark gray hair and eyes. The other was a young woman with longer hair than the man, with hair and eyes a very similar color to that of the other person's.

"Oh. Are you Ash?" the unfamiliar young man asked.

Our protagonist nodded. "Yeah, I'm Ash. And you are…".

"This is Dawn" the boy said, pointing to the girl. "And my name is…".

"I can introduce myself, _Lucas_ ", the girl said flatly, gently elbowing the young man (Lucas) in the side.

"Ah, yes, sorry" Lucas said. "Yeah, my name's Lucas".

"And I'm Dawn" Dawn said, reaching out her hand for Ash to shake. "I was told that you'd be coming here to study at Greater Pastoria University".

"Yes, that is correct" Ash replied. "Are you two going there as well?"

"Sure are" Lucas replied, smiling. "And this is my first year as well".

"Sweet" Ash said, looking down at the ground. He didn't know how he felt about Lucas and Dawn just yet.

"Anyway, Ash, you should probably head down to your room" Serena said. "Get your stuff organized. Once you're done with that, the others should be out of the pool. I can't wait for you to meet them".

Ash smiled. He couldn't wait, either. If every member of Serena's family was as pleasant to be around as she was, it was going to be a pleasure indeed.

* * *

Five minutes later, Ash was down in his new bedroom, and he was quite happy with it. He had a king bed all to himself, and, what was more, there were two couches right next to the window. Granted, that window did not have the best view in the house - that honor belonged to the windows in the living room. That said, Ash really did like this place.

 _I could get used to this,_ he thought to himself. _And I'm going to have to, because this is my new life now._

He sorted out his shirts, shoes, socks, boxers, and pants. He also placed his books by the windowsill on one of the couches. Once that task was done, he reverted to staring outside the window.

 _I can't believe that this is what I'm doing now,_ he thought. _I'm going to be living with Serena, and attending college at Greater Pastoria University. Good thing I already have all my textbooks; I wouldn't know where to get them around here._

"Ash?" called Serena's voice.

The boy turned around to find that she was walking into his room. "What is it?" Ash asked her.

"My siblings are ready for you to meet them. I think that you'll enjoy them very much".

"Okay" the boy replied. "I'm ready to meet them".

Serena stepped aside, and there were four children behind her; two boys and two girls.

All of them had the same blonde hair and gray eyes as Serena, which, considering that they were siblings, wasn't surprising to Ash. All of them were wearing the same green tunic, making them look rather like forest elves, without hats.

Serena's height (5 feet, 10 inches) was slightly shorter than Ash's (six feet even). However, the tallest one present, a boy, appeared to be six feet, two and a half inches tall. Ash didn't know how he had become so good at judging heights, but there it was.

"Hello" said the tallest boy. "I'm Sam, and I'm sixteen".

Ash shook hands with Sam before turning his attention to the next oldest child, a girl.

"I'm Bella, and I'm fourteen".

Turning to the younger boy present, the fourth oldest child, he said, "I'm Patrick, and I'm twelve". Judging by the voice in which Patrick spoke, it seemed as though he was trying to pull a fast one on Ash. Ash didn't know what kind of trick that might be, but he resolved to be careful around the younger boy from here on out.

"And I'm Corinne" the youngest girl said. "I'm nine".

"Nice" Ash said, taking all of that information in. Sam, Bella, Patrick, and Corinne. Those were the names of the Courtland children, besides Serena. He had to keep that information inside his head.

After the four younger children left, Serena turned to Ash. "Now would be a good time to let your Pikachu out in the yard. He won't leave the premises, correct?"

"I mean, there's a fence around the property" Ash replied. "It wouldn't be that easy for him to do so".

"I guess you have a point" Serena said. "Okay, then. Go out to the porch and release him. The rain seems to have stopped, anyhow".

Ash walked outside onto the back porch of the house and realized that she was right. The porch might have been damp, and there might have been a high degree of humidity in the air, but there were no water droplets falling from the sky.

"I release you, Coyopa" Ash said. It really was a relief to let him go play outside, knowing that he was going to be safe. This mansion did have pretty good security.

The Pikachu, Ash's lifelong companion, exited the Pokeball in a flash of blue light and ran down the stairs. Before long, he was frolicking all over the yard, looking rather like a Lillipup chasing a Butterfree.

"Enjoy yourself, Coyopa!"

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Serena.

Ash turned to face her. "What's up?" he asked.

"Dinner is served".

* * *

 **I didn't get any reviews on the last chapter. Remember, if you review, I'll respond to it at the bottom of the chapter. If you don't review, I have no way of knowing what you guys thought of it. So just keep that in mind.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	3. Dinner With Dominick

**Chapter 3**

Ash and Serena walked over to the dinner table, where a person who appeared to be a chef was standing.

Turning to Ash, he said, in what sounded like a vaguely Kalosian accent, "I'm Chef Blumiere, and I cook for the Courtland family. Only the best ingredients for Dominick, Debbie, and their children!"

"Yes" Serena said. "His dishes really are divine. He's the best cook in the whole world, in my honest opinion".

Serena's mother, Debbie, looked at her with a slightly angry expression, so the girl looked back down at her feet.

"In any case", said a voice from the end of the table, "it is time to eat".

Ash looked and saw a burly man with dark, thinning hair and glasses. He must have been slightly taller than Ash, although not by much. There was no denying who this man was.

"Mr. Courtland?" Ash said aloud.

"Please, call me Dominick. Or Dom, I don't really care. But Chef Blumiere has cooked such a wonderful meal for us, and we should not delay-".

"Yes, Dom, we _should_ delay". That was Debbie talking.

Dominick turned to face his wife. "Yes, Debbie?"

"We need to say our nightly prayers to Arceus for this meal. We need to thank him that we are all alive and well to enjoy it".

"Ah, yes" the captain said. "Well...to Arceus, this meal is for you".

Serena, who was sitting next to Ash, grasped his hand in hers. Sam, on the other side, did the same.

Ash hadn't come from a particularly religious household, so he had never gotten used to saying prayers at mealtimes. He'd only done it while eating at his grandmother's house; she was far more pious than either of his parents.

As for Ash himself, he thought that it made more sense to thank Chef Blumiere, who had actually cooked the feast he saw in front of him, than a deity. Then again…as he looked in Serena's eyes, maybe there was a deity.

Normally, Ash only said prayers before Thanksgiving dinner. If this was going to become a normal thing for him…

 _Well, I'm fine with that,_ he told himself. _Really, it's going to be all right. I'm going to get used to it eventually. Just like everything else here. Sooner or later, I have to get used to it._

Once the prayer was over, Dominick placed his napkin on his lap, and everyone else did the same. "You may all dig in" he said.

Dinner looked like something out of a fairy tale with a lot of kings and queens. There were green beans and salad, pieces of chicken and steak, sausages, and slices of bread that, judging by the smell and steam, freshly baked.

As Ash helped himself to a few pieces of steak and some bread, he couldn't help but notice that the rain had started outside once again.

 _I bet Coyopa is going to want in,_ he thought. _Of course, who wouldn't?_

Sure enough, a few seconds later, just as Ash had placed the steak and bread on his plate and was about to take a bite, a Pikachu was standing at the door, banging on it. It appeared that Coyopa was having a hard time resisting using an electric attack on the door.

"I'll get it" Ash said. "He's my Pikachu".

"Go get your Pokeball first, Ash" Dominick told the young man. "We don't want him tracking mud all over the house".

Ash nodded and went into his bedroom. That was where he had kept his Pokeball this whole time. He went back to the door and opened it up. Before Coyopa could run inside, he captured him in the Pokeball.

"Thanks, Ash" Debbie said.

After Ash put his Pokeball back in the room, he returned to the table, and to his not-yet-touched plate of steak and bread. He started cutting the steak, paying attention to the various conversations around him.

"Well", said Serena, "Ash and I are enrolling in Greater Pastoria University tomorrow. That's when we'll find out what classes we are taking, and what our schedules are".

"Nice" Lucas replied. "Dawn and myself as well. I'm assuming that all of us have all our textbooks by now?"

After everyone around the table nodded, Ash started digging into his steak.

There was something special about this steak. It didn't seem as though it had come from a five-star restaurant, but he would still have given the taste five stars out of five had he been a food critic. The meat tasted slightly sweet, and he figured that might have been due to the sauce it was cooked in.

But he would have given anything for even a two-star steak at this point; he had been so hungry that he would have settled for anything.

On the other side of the table, Lucas and Dawn were dicussing their battling strategies.

"I mean, Orkun is quite skilled with Aura Spheres. I've known him since I was...what, three? Four? Whatever the case, I was pretty little when I first met him".

Ash's eyes lit up. "You've known your Lucario since you were that young?"

"Yep" Lucas replied. "And he's been quite the companion, sticking by my side through everything".

"Where does that name come from?" Serena asked him. "I mean, Orkun? How did you come up with that".

"Funny story, actually", the boy in the beret said, tearing a bite of meat off with his teeth. "My parents noticed that I was thanking him a lot for everything. For a while, he was just a Lucario, but they looked on the Internet, and apparently _Orkun_ means thank you in some other language. And that's how he got that name".

"Sweet" Ash replied. "Is he here with us? Or back at your house?"

"He's back at my place" Lucas replied. "And Dawn, you have a Pokemon too".

"Yeah" Dawn said. "I have a Vulpix named Vinaka".

"Ironically", Lucas said, "Vinaka means thank you as well, in yet another language. I like to say that that's how we got attracted to each other, because both of our Pokemons' names meant the same thing, only in different languages".

"So you two are dating?" Ash asked.

Almost immediately, he realized his mistake. He had just said something that was probably the wrong thing to say. Clamping a hand over his mouth, he swallowed his bite of steak as quickly as he could.

"Uh...yeah, we are" Dawn replied, looking slightly embarrassed. "Lucas and I are boyfriend/girlfriend. We've been official for about a month".

"Next time, let us be the ones to say it" Lucas said coldly, digging back into a slice of bread.

"Okay" Ash replied. "Sorry".

"How's school going for you guys?" Dawn asked Sam and Bella. Patrick and Corinne were having some conversation with each other about a video game; at least, that was what it sounded like to Ash.

"Well, it starts on the same day as your college" Sam replied. "We don't have our books yet; we're going to go into town and get them, though".

"Good idea" Dominick said. "Do you want to drive, or should your mother take you?"

"I'm not quite confident on the highway" Sam replied. Turning to Ash, he explained, "I only have my learner's permit, not my license".

Ash nodded. "I'm in the same boat as you".

"It's no big deal. You can practice here; there are plenty of roads in the small towns near here" Dominick replied. "Just know that I won't be able to be with you very often, just because my job is so demanding".

Right on cue, his phone started ringing, and he stood up from the table.

"Sorry, guys. I have to take this call" he said, and he did sound genuinely sorry at the meal getting interrupted.

"It's no problem, Dom" Debbie said to her husband, and her tone of voice said that she was saying what she honestly believed. "I get it".

Judging by the tone she was using, Ash could assume that this was a very regular occurrence in the Courtland household. Dominick would be eating dinner with his family, and then he would have a work obligation, and he'd have to step aside. All members of the family seemed to accept it, and they continued eating their food as if nothing had happened.

"So", Serena said, "do you guys want to go to the battling club tomorrow? After we've registered for all of our classes?"

"Why not?" Dawn replied. "We've got four days left to kill. If we hang out at the battling club a bit, then that's just fine with me".

Lucas nodded. "I agree with Dawn".

Dawn grasped her boyfriend's hand in her own. "Are you just saying that to agree with me, or do you really agree with me?"

"I really agree with you" Lucas said. "I want to go to the battling club just as much as you do. I'm pretty sure Orkun would really love it".

"There's no denying that" Serena replied. "Lucario really do love battling".

"Wait," Ash said, "there's a battling club here?"

"Yeah" Dawn replied. "Membership is super expensive, but Serena can bring up to three guests each time she goes. Those guests will be you, me, and Lucas".

Ash thought of Coyopa, currently in his Pokeball, and made a mental note to bring him when they went to register for their classes tomorrow. If he didn't, he was going to miss out on a great chance to bond with these new people.

For the next several minutes, there was very little sound besides that of forks against food. Ash finally tasted some of the freshly baked bread, and he decided that it was just about the best he'd ever had. Chef Blumiere really was amazing at his job.

"So...does this family have any customs that I should be aware of?" Ash asked. "I notice that all of you are wearing green tunics".

"That's one custom" Debbie said. "Ash, one of these days, I will take you to a tailor. He'll make one of those tunics for you, because it's very important that you have one to wear at every meal".

"Wait...what is the purpose of the tunics?" Ash asked. "I notice that even Luke and Dawn are wearing them".

The boy in the beret looked at Ash, appearing quite a bit peeved. "It is _Lucas_ , thank you very much. I really don't like the name Luke".

Ash raised both of his hands in the air, much like a crime suspect about to be arrested. "Sorry, Lucas".

"It's fine", the other boy replied. "Just, please, don't do it again".

"And, to answer your question, Ash", Sam said, "the reason we wear these is because green represents money. We're supposed to all remember that we are rich, and to be proud of it".

Ash didn't see any problem with being proud of being wealthy, but, somehow, he felt as though something was wrong here.

 _It's just me,_ he told himself. _There's really not anything to worry much about here, nothing at all._

"But yeah", Debbie said, "I'll take you to a tailor the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, I have a lot of e-mails to go through, and I also have to deal with taxes".

Serena turned to Ash and whispered in his ear, "That's what happens when you're rich and own a lot of property. You have to pay a lot of taxes".

Ash nodded. "What other properties do you guys have?"

"Well", she said, clearly trying to sound humble, "we have a summer home on the islands. And we have a timeshare in Mount Coronet's Great Lucario Lodge".

"Great Lucario Lodge?"

"It's this large hotel in the Coronet area" Bella said. "We go there whenever we ski up there, every Christmas. The rooms are more like apartments".

"Wait...you guys ski in the _Coronet Range? Every Christmas?"_

"Uh...yeah" Sam said, brushing it off as though it were simply a fact of life. "We do".

 _Unbelievable,_ Ash thought. _They ski in the_ _ **Coronet Range**_ _every winter. Do they have any idea how unaffordable that is for almost everybody else?_

"Well, that certainly sounds awesome" Ash said, taking a bite of lettuce. "I can't wait to head there for Christmas. Unless you want me to go back home?"

"No, you can come with us" Debbie replied. "They do allow guests, and you are our guest. That's the way it is".

The way Debbie said, _That's the way it is,_ the blunt manner she used, made Ash feel a bit creeped out.

 _I don't think I want to get on this lady's bad side,_ he thought. _I mean, I already didn't, because I just don't like to piss people off in general. But now I_ _ **really**_ _don't._

There were a few more minutes of quiet eating before Dawn said, "Lucas and I should probably head back soon. Our parents didn't want us to be out too late".

"Okay" Debbie said. "Are you guys going to leave now?"

"Yeah" said Lucas. "I hope that you are okay with that".

"I'm not a huge fan of you guys leaving - I do enjoy these dinners. But I get it. We'll see you guys here tomorrow, I am assuming?"

"Yeah" Dawn replied. "We'll come here and take everyone to the battling club, once we have gotten registered for classes, that is".

"All right" Debbie said. "We'll see you two tomorrow".

"Bye, guys" Serena said. "Was nice dining with you".

"You too" Lucas replied. "But Dawn and I must leave now. See you tomorrow".

After Lucas and Dawn waved good-bye to the others, they headed out the front door as well. This left Ash, Debbie, and the Courtland children sitting around the table.

Debbie shook her head. "Dom's always on work calls during meals, it feels like. But it's no matter. You know that it's his job that allows us to live like this".

"Sure is" Serena replied. "We should all be grateful for it".

In Ash's opinion, the Courtland family was living in complete and total decadence, at least from what he had seen. The other children did seem fairly snobbish to him, even if Serena wasn't.

 _And I have to live with these people for the next nine months…_ , he thought. _Arceus help me._

* * *

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **xXx Digital xXx: Yes, you were the first person to review! I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. As for grammar mistakes, I will do my best. I like to think that I have a powerful grip on the English language.**

 **Guest: Thank you for your review. Yeah, the first chapter is pretty short, and, to be honest, so is this one. But they will get longer; I'm writing from a specific outline, and some of the scenes will demand short chapters, while some will demand longer ones.**

 **Thank you all, and have a great day.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	4. Coyopa's Wrath

**Here comes Chapter 4, as I continue my fast pace of uploading chapters. I think that it will get slower as we get into the summer, but not a lot slower. Perhaps every other day is something I might strive for, rather than every day. (Yes, my writing speed is that fast).**

 **This was a fun chapter to write, definitely my favorite one so far. The next one might be even better. Also, my account hit 100 followers yesterday, and I'm so excited over that!**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Ash spent most of the next three hours looking over his textbooks. After all, he had nothing better to do. Even if the others wanted to talk to him, he wasn't in the mood.

He let out a big yawn. Had it really been only this morning that he had gotten into a car with his mother to drive to the Jubilife City station? Had it really only been this morning that he had boarded a train that had taken him on a seven-hour journey, all the way here?

 _Apparently so,_ he thought. _At least, that's what the calendar would have me believe._

"You should probably head to bed soon, Ash" Debbie told the young man. "You have your stuff all set, right?"

Ash nodded. He'd unpacked earlier, and he had showered and changed into his pajamas. As soon as he brushed his teeth, he could go to bed, and, judging by how tired he felt, he would probably fall asleep almost immediately.

"Good" she said. "I hope that you enjoy your stay at the Courtland Manor. I'll see you in the morning".

The young man looked at the clock and saw that it was getting quite late. He went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth, very glad that electric toothbrushes existed. They made the job much easier.

Once Ash was done with that, he searched for the Pokeball, which he realized he had placed on his bedside table.

 _Good,_ he thought. _In case somebody comes by and tries to kidnap me, I can sic Coyopa on them. Although I doubt that'll happen, just because the security is so good here._

Ash climbed into the king bed and tucked himself underneath the covers. Staring at the ceiling for a while, he then turned off the light.

Almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, he sank into a dreamless sleep. It felt like only seconds later that he was awake, and bright sunlight was seeping in through the window.

Looking at the clock beside his bed, Ash saw that he had slept for nearly eight hours. It was 5:47 in the morning, which was a little earlier, although not too much earlier, than the time he usually got up on weekends.

 _This place really is nice,_ he decided. _The sunlight just seems so...pure here. I guess that's what you get when you are in the mountains._

He didn't know the elevation of this mansion, but he was rather curious. He was pretty sure that, on the trip here, they had gone up one last large hill before reaching the estate.

 _Well, I don't really care,_ he thought.

For a good fifteen minutes, Ash lay in bed, just thinking to himself about the predicament he had placed himself in. Then, just because he wanted someone to talk to, he grabbed the Pokeball from his bedside table.

After letting Coyopa out of said Pokeball, Ash watched as the Pikachu looked around the room.

" _Where am I?"_ he asked.

"You're in the guest bedroom at Courtland Manor" the boy replied. "At least, one of them. Who knows how many guest bedrooms there are here?"

" _I'm sure Arceus knows",_ Coyopa replied.

Ash chuckled. "True. I'm sure that Arceus knows, but that's not what the expression means. In any case, it's the morning after we arrived here, and we're going to go out today".

" _What are we going out to do?"_

"We just have to register for classes at Greater Pastoria University. Then, we're going to go to the battling club. How does that sound?"

Coyopa suddenly looked a hell of a lot more enthusiastic. " _Battling?"_ he said. " _I love battling!"_

Ash smiled. "I know you do. And we're going to go with Serena, Lucas, and Dawn".

" _Nice. What are they like?"_

"Well, Serena's the captain's daughter. I don't know if you knew this, but Dominick Courtland, the man who's hosting me - he's the manager of Royal Alolan Cruise Lines".

" _Isn't this Sinnoh, though?"_ the Pikachu asked. " _Wouldn't you think that the manager of Royal Alolan Cruise Lines would live in, well, Alola?"_

"Apparently that's not the case. Anyway, though...Serena...what can I say about her?"

" _I don't know"_ Coyopa replied. " _You know her better than I do"._

"Well, she's really pretty. And, from what I can tell, she's nice. Most of the others here are kind of rich snobs, but she's a nice rich girl".

Coyopa chuckled, a motion which caused a small amount of sparks to flow from his nose. " _You think Serena's hot"._

"No, I never said tha-".

Ash realized he had made a big mistake as soon as Coyopa belted, at what must have been the top of his lungs, " _ASH THINKS SERENA'S HOT!"_

Immediately, the young man's face turned as red as a beet. He didn't know what to think, what to do, except that he wanted a hole to open up in the ground and swallow him whole.

Murphy's Law, as well as some basic common sense, dictated that this did not happen. Instead, Ash stayed firmly planted, lying on his bed. He did not move, since he really had no idea where he would go.

 _They'll probably wonder where I went,_ he thought, _if I leave now. In fact, I'm sure of it._

 _But wouldn't that be the idea?_

He started getting up, intending to make a run for it, not even caring about Coyopa; after all, the Pikachu was the one who was going to cause him an epic amount of embarrassment.

Suddenly, the door to his room burst open. "Ash?"

Had there been a lock on his door, Ash would have used it; as it was, he would have had to escape out the window, if that had indeed become his decision. That outcome would still have been infinitely better than the universe in which he found himself right now.

Serena was standing in front of him, looking shocked. "Was that your Pikachu yelling my name?"

"Yeah" Ash replied.

" _Ash thinks you're hot"_ Coyopa said in a tone that suggested that he couldn't wait for these two lovebirds to start smooching each other.

"Oh, shut up, you" the young man said, quickly recalling the Pikachu back into his Pokeball.

Serena chuckled. She sounded a little embarrassed now as well. As she looked at Ash, however, she had a far more serious expression on her face.

"What is it?" Ash asked her.

"Coyopa said...honestly...do you really think I'm hot?"

"No" the boy said quickly. "I just said that you were good-looking. Isn't there a difference between that and being hot?"

"Hmm. I suppose there is" Serena replied. "In any case, I think that you should go and brush your teeth. We're about to have breakfast, and then we'll head on our outing for the day?"

"What's on the itinerary, again?" Ash asked. Despite the fact that he had been telling Coyopa about it just minutes ago, he was so embarrassed that he couldn't even remember.

"We're going to go to the registration office on the campus and get all signed up for all of our classes" Serena said. "After that, we'll head over to the battling club, where Coyopa can practice his moves".

"Honestly, Coyopa doesn't deserve to be able to" Ash replied angrily. "That was just so rude of him, to make everyone think that-".

"Seriously, Ash, I really doubt that anyone else woke up besides me. I sleep in the room right above this one, so it's easier for me to pick up on those noises, I guess".

"You _guess?"_

"The point is, Ash", she continued, "don't sweat it. I've had embarrassing things like that happen to me before, and everyone forgets about them after a while. I'm sure that, if anyone else _did_ wake up, they'll stop talking about it within a week or so at most".

 _A week. Another week of not being able to live this down._

Ash hadn't even been at the Courtland Manor for twenty-four hours yet, and he already felt as though Serena was the only person there he was able to coexist with peacefully. The next nine months might end up being hell on Earth for him.

 _I'm pissed off at Coyopa,_ he thought. _But it's always better to be pissed off than to be pissed on._

 _There you go!,_ another part of his mind replied. _That's the spirit!_

He went and brushed his teeth, determined that he would put that embarrassing episode behind him. The truth was what the facts were, and the fact was that Serena was right. It was likely that the other members of the family would forget about it before long.

 _But what if they don't?_

Ash resolved that he'd deal with it if it came to that, but he _really_ hoped that it did not come to that. He generally wasn't one who liked to pick fights with others.

As soon as he dressed and left his bedroom, he saw that Patrick and Corinne were already up. They were in the kitchen area of the dining room/kitchen/living room, and Patrick was spreading cream cheese on a bagel. Corinne was munching on an apple.

Both of them were wearing the same shade of purple pajamas, which was the exact same color Serena had been wearing when she had visited his room just minutes before. That struck Ash as a little odd.

 _I guess that everyone in this family wears green for meals and purple to bed. What's next? Red for exercise?_

He supposed that it was just the Courtlands trying to behave as one cohesive family unit, even though that was next to impossible when you had five children.

"Morning, guys" Ash said, rubbing some of the sleep out of his eyes.

" _Morning, Ash"_ Patrick replied, in what was clearly the gushiest tone he could possibly muster, and that made Ash realize something.

 _He knows. He must know. That must have woken him up. Serena was wrong._

That obviously wasn't a comforting thought; however, Ash didn't think it was a good idea to dwell on it. People would think what they would, and he would just have to live his life; or, in his case, could he really call it a life?

 _Yes, I can,_ he resolved. _I have to make the most of these nine months. Maybe, once my freshman year is over, I can live in a dorm. Or maybe I'll just choose to stay here again, if it's good enough._

He sincerely doubted that he'd enjoy it enough here to consider moving back in for sophomore year, but he acknowledged that one could not predict the future. It just wasn't possible.

 _So, who knows?_

Ash went and got a bagel of his own, and, once Patrick was done with his, spread some cream cheese onto it. He was a big fan of cream cheese; it just tasted so good when it was cold.

Eventually, Serena entered the room again. "Eat up, Ash" she said. "As soon as you're done, and I get dressed, we're going to head into town and pick up Lucas and Dawn from their houses".

"That early, huh?" Ash asked.

Serena nodded. "Registration starts at eight, and the university is half an hour away from our house. We want to be there right when it starts, because it gets crowded later. At least, that's what I've been told".

"I can believe that" Ash replied. "There have been crazier things I have been asked to believe in my life; that's nothing".

"Good, because all available evidence, plus basic common sense, points to that".

Once Ash was done eating, he noticed that Serena was not yet done with her bagel. She looked at Ash.

"I'll be done and dressed in five minutes" she said. "Wait for me here, and then I'll drive us around and pick up those two".

Sam, Bella, Debbie, and Dominick were all evidently still asleep. Ash didn't know how they had managed to sleep through Coyopa yelling that he thought Serena was hot, but he was grateful for that, for obvious reasons.

 _I just can't believe it,_ he thought. _They must really have been sawing some logs._

Indeed, that was the most likely scenario, that the Courtland parents, as well as Bella and Sam, were just really deep sleepers. Just _how_ deep, however, was shocking to him.

"All right" Serena said as soon as she came down. Now, she looked rather like a younger version of Ash's mother when she was about to go for a run, in a think track suit. "Are you ready, Ash?"

The young man smiled. "As ready as I'll ever be".

"Very well, then" she replied.

They walked out of the house and over to the driveway, where Serena's car had not been moved ever since the last night, when she had driven Ash here from the train station. She motioned for Ash to take the passenger seat, while she sat behind the wheel.

"First stop is Lucas's" said Serena. "He's usually an early bird on the weekends, at least compared to most people our age. Just sit back and enjoy the ride".

Ash did just that. Serena backed out of the driveway and drove them down a series of winding mountain roads, near what looked like the ski resort. In fact, it appeared that they passed the entrance to the base at one point.

"You said that they live in the town?" Ash asked, trying to make some conversation.

"Yeah" Serena replied, keeping her eyes on the road at all times like a good driver. "The town's called Starborn Valley, and it has a population of 24,734, according to Pokepedia".

"I see" the boy said. "Well, I can't wait to see them again".

"I'm sure you can't" the girl said. "You seemed to have a good time with them last night. Of course, you guys weren't together too long, just for dinner".

Ash just got good vibes from Lucas and Dawn, and he knew instinctively that they would be very good friends of his. It was much like that feeling he had gotten when he had first met Coyopa. He'd known, from the very beginning, that he could count on the Pikachu.

Of course, all of that trust had eventually been betrayed, just this morning. Ash wanted to forgive Coyopa for it, but he knew that it was going to take a while. Perhaps when he was feeling less embarrassed…

 _I hope he didn't scream loud enough to wake Lucas and Dawn up,_ part of his mind said.

 _Don't be silly, Ash,_ the other part of his mind replied. _Lucas lives literally_ _ **miles**_ _away. Dawn lives even further away. If it didn't wake up the parents, why would it wake up Lucas, let alone Dawn?_

Ash couldn't help but be worried about that all the same, but he decided not to dwell on it, just like he had before.

They eventually arrived at a home that was much smaller than the mansion from which they had come. A small backyard was present, but the whole area was smaller than the house Ash had lived in back at home.

"This is where Lucas lives?" he asked Serena.

Serena nodded. "And it looks like he's on the porch right now. That was easy".

Peering into the distance, Ash could tell that there was a boy in a beret standing on the porch. He was staring up at the sky, looking rather full of himself in that moment.

 _I didn't know Lucas was as snobbish as Serena's family,_ Ash thought. _Judging by the size of his house, he's not even that rich._

Ash reminded himself that just because Lucas was posing that way didn't mean he was being snobbish. However, if that was the case, the other boy must have been completely deficient in his social skills. Didn't he know the message that he was sending to Ash and Serena?

"Hello" Lucas said, walking down to the car, opening the door, and sliding into the back seat. "How is it?"

"It's a nice morning, isn't it?" Serena asked.

"Yes" the boy in the beret replied. "Just lovely".

"Now we've only got to pick up Dawn" said Serena. "And the good news is that she lives pretty close to here".

"Why is this place called Starborn Valley?" asked Ash. "That sounds like a name for someplace much farther north".

"You know, you're right" Serena replied. "However, they say that stars first originated from this valley right here. They say that stars are born here before they ascend into the heavens. Every year, around Easter, they have a star festival".

"Star festival?" Ash asked.

"It's awesome" Lucas replied. "You're going to love it, I think. Believe me, this is the best place to live; I thank Arceus every day that I was born here".

"I see" our protagonist replied. "Well, let's just head to Dawn's house".

Serena once again turned the engine on and drove them a short distance. It had been only a couple of minutes by the time she stopped in front of another house.

"This is Dawn's house" Serena said unnecessarily.

This house was nothing spectacular. It was two stories tall and made of brick, with dying grass in the front lawn.

"I guess that they don't take very good care of the grass here" Ash said.

Lucas suddenly gave Ash a dirty look. "Ash…" he said.

"I'll handle this, Lucas" Serena said sternly. "Ash, the reason they don't take good care of the grass is because both of Dawn's parents are sick".

"They're sick?"

"Yes" Lucas replied, and you could see the tears in his eyes. "Both of them have cancer. What with chemo and all of that, they don't feel well enough, most of the time, to take care of the grass. And Dawn doesn't know how to. _That's_ why their lawn is so unkempt".

"I see" Ash replied. "Sorry for asking".

"It's fine" Lucas said, over the objection of Serena. "Just don't mention it around Dawn, and you're good".

Ash let out a deep breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He couldn't believe that he'd just said something so _wrong,_ something that he should have been able to keep inside his head.

 _I have better self-control than that,_ he told himself. He really hoped that it was true, but he'd already made one mistake earlier, when he had told Coyopa that he found Serena pretty.

Currently, Coyopa's Pokeball was clutched in Ash's right hand. He could release the Pikachu at any time, but he didn't really want to just yet. After all, they were not yet at the battling club; there was no particular reason for him to do so.

Finally, Dawn came out of her house and got into the back seat of the car, next to Lucas. She looked very excited indeed.

"I can't wait to register for all of our classes!" she said, probably in a more enthusiastic tone than she had meant it. "I think that our freshman year is going to be pretty good, am I right?"

"We'll see" said Ash. "I'm still a bit nervous about college".

Indeed, all four of them were, but Serena was clearly trying not to make a big deal out of it. From what Ash had seen of her so far, she seemed fairly level-headed; the question was how long that side of her was going to last, how long it would be until the stress of college forced it all out of her.

 _I'll give it a week once we start classes,_ he thought. _Two at most._

They drove through the town of Starborn Valley, which looked nice enough to Ash. Indeed, it reminded him a lot of Pallet Town, a place in Kanto he had once visited, with its small-town vibe.

Eventually, Serena pulled into a very long driveway. "We're here" she said.

Ash looked around. There were several academic buildings located near them, and a library was visible. Since it was still summer break, the library appeared to be mostly empty.

Still, there was no denying what this place was.

It was Greater Pastoria University.

* * *

 **Yeah, I decided to end the chapter here. I decided that the registration and the trip to the battling club would be in one chapter, Chapter 5. I'm going to a dance tonight, so I won't be able to write this evening. Which is, of course, why I stopped here.**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **NateTheNoodle: I'm glad you like it, my friend. And I will read yours when it is up; can't wait to talk to you on Discord more.**

 **Rajiv A. Rajaram: Yeah, they are intriguing. Really, a lot of those things are things that would have creeped ME out.**

 **xXx DIGITAL xXx: I'll try to take your advice. Thank you for your review.**

 **I'll see you guys next time.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	5. Ditch Cocaine Mitch

**This is probably going to be my last in the series of daily chapters. Reason being, I have an outline for Chapter 6 that is going to make it quite a lot longer than this one. That one might be Monday evening or Tuesday morning.**

 **In other news, thank you all for over 1,000 views! This story isn't even close to being over, so I feel an immense amount of excitement about what I can achieve with this.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 5!**

* * *

Serena drove them down a long driveway, one that led to a small building towards the front of the campus. There were only a few other cars parked; it wasn't that crowded here at this hour, and because it was technically still summer break.;

"Like I said", she told Ash, Lucas, and Dawn, "it's better to sign up earlier in the day rather than later. It'll get really crowded later this morning, and especially in the afternoon. Instead, we'll complete everything now".

Serena parked them in front of the building, and they all got out. Ash was able to see even more of the university's campus now that the inside of the car wasn't obstructing some of his view.

He could tell that there were a good amount of trees on campus, as well as some grassy spaces. He could see basketball courts, a baseball field, tennis courts, battling courts, and a soccer field. Clearly, this place was well-equipped for sporting events. Ash had never been the most athletic in his year at school, not even close, but he still appreciated the value of sports, that they fostered team spirit.

They entered the building, where a bespectacled woman was sitting at a desk. "Ah...new students showing up early!" she exclaimed. "What brings you here at this hour, besides the obvious?"

"You know what it is" Ash said. "We're here to register for our classes".

"Ah, yes" she replied. "Well...please tell me. What are your names?"

"Ash Ketchum" our hero said, jumping the gun before those in front of him (Serena and Dawn) got a chance to say theirs.

"Serena Courtland".

"Dawn Starlow".

"Lucas Winters".

"Okay" the woman behind the desk said. "I have some forms for all of you to fill out. I'll hand them over to you, and you can write your information down. Once that is done, the information will be processed, and then I'll hand you guys your schedules".

The four young adults nodded to show that they understood. Then, the woman handed out the forms and four pens.

"Fill these out and then come back" she said.

Ash, Serena, Lucas, and Dawn settled down onto the chairs near the desk. Looking down at the information, Ash quickly started filling it out.

For the most part, the information was very simple. Things like date of birth, place of birth, address, name, age, height, weight, shoe size, eye color, hair color, had you ever been hospitalized, if so what for and when, GPA, etc., were included.

 _Why are they asking us if we've ever been hospitalized?,_ Ash wondered. _Is this place going to be dangerous? I sure hope not!_

Ash completed the sheet in less than five minutes. He had memorized all of that information long ago, and didn't have any trouble bringing it back now. He was the first one of the four of them to finish.

After he handed it in, the woman asked, "Are you with the other three of them?"

"Yeah" Ash replied. "We all came here together".

"Okay" she said. "Wait until they are all done, and then we'll print out your schedules. I hope that you enjoy your time at Greater Pastoria University".

"Thanks" the young man said in response. "I'm glad you want us to enjoy it".

She nodded, and then they waited for everyone else to complete it. Lucas was the last one done.

"I can't remember if I've ever been hospitalized" he said. "Or my shoe size, for that matter. It's been forever since I got new shoes".

"The reason for your measurements", the woman behind the desk said, clearly having overheard the conversation, "is because uniforms are going to be made for you using them. They'll be delivered to the address written on those forms on the day before classes begin, so you had better have put the correct address down".

Lucas double-checked the address he had written on the sheet. "I did" he said. "Put the right address down, I mean".

"That's good" the woman said. "And the health information is just if you have a medical emergency or something like that. That's what it's all for, so please, turn in your paper, Lucas, once you have answered all of the questions".

"I'll just say no to the hospitalization question" the boy in the beret said. "I really don't know".

"You can write, 'I don't know' there".

"Really?" Lucas replied. "I guess I'll do that, then".

He handed in his sheet, and the woman went over to a printer. After she pressed a couple of buttons to get the thing running, she placed the sheets into the machine.

"All right. Your schedules are getting printed out right now. I hope that all of you enjoy your studies at Greater Pastoria University; it is considered one of the greatest in the Sinnoh region".

 _How insecure do they have to be to brag about it like that?,_ Ash wondered. _Like, come ON._

Once their schedules had been printed out, the woman behind the desk handed them back to the prospective students. "Have a nice day" she said.

The four of them got back into Serena's car, and she started the engine. While Serena herself couldn't look at her own schedule for obvious reasons, the other three of them were looking at their schedules closely.

Ash saw that on Tuesday, which would be his first day of classes, his schedule was the following:

 _8:00 AM - Arrival_

 _8:15 AM - Mathematics_

 _9:15 AM - Pokemon Biology_

 _10:15 AM - Home Economics_

 _11:15 AM - Physical Education_

 _12:15 AM - Lunch_

 _1:00 PM - Ancient History of Sinnoh_

 _2:00 PM - Creative Writing_

 _3:00 PM - Dismissal_

 _These sound like some interesting classes,_ he thought. _I sure hope that they actually do turn out to be interesting. Because in high school, I was always bored out of my mind._

Serena steered the car down the road that led away from the campus.

"You don't want to drive around some more?" Ash asked. "See some more of the campus first?"

She shook her head. "It's really not a campus you can drive around. There aren't a lot of roads here, so you really just have to walk around. I didn't want to stay a second longer than we had to".

"Why not?" Lucas asked. "It would have been a bit helpful to learn our way around the place a little more".

Dawn poked her boyfriend in the side. "But the _battling club,_ Lucas. Isn't that more important?"

Ash laughed; he couldn't help himself. He looked back to find that the two lovebirds were tickling each other playfully, acting like they were much younger than they really were.

 _Really, that's kind of immature,_ one part of his mind said. _But I suppose it's romantic._

 _Of course it's romantic,_ another part of his mind said. _Lucas and Dawn are dating. It's romantic._

 _Fair enough._

"The battling club isn't too far from here" Serena explained. "It's in the town of Blankenship; we'll be there in roughly five minutes".

"And what kinds of facilities are there at this battling club?" asked Ash. "I don't think I've ever been to one of those before".

"They're much like country clubs, except for Pokemon, and, instead of golf, there is battling. They have a couple of courts, and that's where Pokemon can practice their moves. It's really quite nice".

"But trainers are welcome there as well" Lucas said. "I come here with Orkun when Serena invites me. Which is almost every time she goes".

"Yeah. We've been members for quite a while, as long as I can remember, actually. And it's great; they have a swimming pool in the basement, as well as a fitness center for trainers. They've even got a little bit of an inn up top, which you can pay to stay at, but it costs a fortune".

"How much are we talking?" Ash asked.

"Oh, five, six thousand a night" she said simply. "It's a much-desired place to stay".

 _I can't imagine why,_ Ash thought. _Wouldn't a lot of noise be made with all of the Pokemon battling below you?_

Soon, they entered the town of Blankenship, which was fairly close to the ocean. From the top of the hill, where the sign advertising the town was, the water was visible, blue as the sky, but glinting gold in the morning sunlight.

Once they were in the town, there seemed to be a good number of people about, mostly minding their own business. Some of them were carrying grocery bags.

"I guess today's a big shopping day" Ash said.

"Eh, not really" Dawn replied. "I think that a lot of the grocery stores in Blankenship are right near here. I can guarantee that, once we're away from this neighborhood, we're going to be seeing a lot less of those grocery bags".

"I see".

Eventually, Serena parked the car in a parking lot right next to Blankenship Harbor. "I don't think that a walk will do us any harm" she said. "It's about half a mile from here to the club".

Ash wasn't too focused on that, however. He was more focused on looking around at his surroundings.

Blankenship was a small town, seemingly built around the harbor. It was surrounded on three sides by mountains, or at least large hills; they had, after all, just come down a large hill in order to get here.

Even though the morning was warm, a strong sea breeze made it seem somewhat chilly. Ash found himself shivering slightly as they walked along the harbor.

"There it is" Serena said. "Like I said, you can't miss it".

Ash didn't remember her ever saying that, but, he conceded to himself, he must not have been paying attention at that time. That was entirely possible; he was no stranger to spacing out at times when he wasn't interested in the current conversation.

The building was very large, covering an entire city block. It was clear to tell that it could have held a great many things inside; it probably held at _least_ six battling courts, probably a lot more than that.

"How many are there?" Ash asked. "Battling courts, I mean?"

"There are twenty-four" Serena replied. "Eight per floor, and then the basement has the fitness room and the pool. There's a lot to love about the place".

"I can imagine".

They walked in, and Serena introduced herself as a member. She then let all of her guests in behind her, through the revolving gate.

"Here it is" the young woman said, gesturing around her. "The Blankenship Battling Club".

Plastered all over the walls were photographs of various Pokemon, as well as trophies. There was also a leaderboard of some sort.

In bright green digital letters, the leaderboard displayed the names of various trainers and what Ash assumed were their...scores? He didn't know.

 _1st: Mitchell "Cocaine Mitch" Canneloni - 117,451_

 _2nd: Sarah Culpepper - 116,461_

 _3rd: Rainbow Dash - 101,139_

 _4th: Serena Courtland - 71,851_

 _5th: Karla Sawden - 65,718_

 _6th: Sammy Kramer - 59,319_

 _7th: Nicolas Nintendonut - 36,496_

 _8th: Little Dicky - 32,446_

 _9th: William "Billy" Talent - 21,924_

 _10th: Tom Joad - 20,715_

"Wait...there's someone named Cocaine Mitch here?" Ash asked.

Serena groaned. "He's the most arrogant motherfucking jerkface here. Trust me, you don't want to meet him. Being top of the rankings only makes him more self-righteous".

Lucas laughed. "Ever since he rose to the top of the rankings, everyone has been wanting to ditch Cocaine Mitch. They don't want him at the top anymore, because that's the cause of some of his arrogance. But they also just really hate him in general. They also call him a swamp captain for whatever reason".

" _Swamp captain?"_ Ash asked. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"Beats me" Dawn replied. "They just call him that. It's just like with Cocaine Mitch".

"So what do those numbers mean?" our hero asked Serena. "Are those skill levels or what?"

"Those are their scores. As you can see, I'm a pretty distant fourth, behind Rainbow Dash. You gain points whenever you win a match against a fellow trainer, and you lose points whenever you lose one. The gain is greater if you defeat a player with a higher score than you, and the loss is greater if you lose to a player with a score lower than you".

"I see" Ash replied. That system sounded pretty logical to him. "So...what are we going to do here?"

"Well, I think that we can spectate some matches that are going on right now" Dawn replied. "That's bound to be interesting".

"Yeah" her boyfriend replied, seconding her. "I like that idea".

Serena led them all up a stairwell and into a long, low room with a series of battling courts. None of them, as far as Ash could tell, currently had a battle taking place.

 _Lame,_ he thought. _I really thought there would be a battle here. Oh, well. It can't be too long; it's still kind of early in the day._

"I suppose that we can practice with our Pokemon against each other" Ash replied. "Who wants to battle Coyopa?"

Lucas raised his hand. "I volunteer as tribute. Or rather, I volunteer _Orkun_ as a tribute".

"Guys, the winner should take on Naviti" Serena said. "He needs some practice, so that we can ditch Cocaine Mitch for the sake of the kids".

"Okay" Ash said. "Are you cool with that, Lucas?"

The boy in the beret nodded. "Yep, that sounds like a plan to me".

Both boys let their Pokemon out of the Pokeballs, and they made moves on each other almost immediately. Orkun readied an Aura Sphere, but Coyopa was ready for it.

"Coyopa! Use Electro Ball!" Ash yelled.

The Pikachu appeared to be concentrating very hard, and eventually did manage to use Electro Ball, causing a direct hit on Orkun.

The Lucario staggered backwards, clearly trying not to faint. He clearly didn't want the embarrassment of losing this battle so soon after it had begun, so he stayed upright and readied another Aura Sphere.

Coyopa had been too busy celebrating at his hitting Orkun with the Electro Ball to notice that an Aura Sphere was heading his way. Too late, he tried to dodge it, but it was in vain.

The Pikachu went flying backwards, hitting the wall and sliding to the ground. To Ash's amazement, he managed to get back up.

"Nice!" the young man exclaimed. "Use Thunderbolt!"

Coyopa's Thunderbolt would have fried Orkun to a crisp had it connected with the Lucario. As it was, it just barely missed, and it was so bright that the trainers all had to look away.

"Wow, he's good" Dawn said on the sidelines. "Go, Orkun!"

It was clear to tell that Dawn was rooting for her boyfriend and his Lucario in this battle. Ash, in return, saw no choice but to redouble his efforts to motivate Coyopa.

"You can do this, Coyopa!" the young man yelled at the top of his lungs. He tried to tell himself that he didn't care if the whole building fell down from the sheer volume of his voice, so long as he helped his Pikachu win the battle.

After a few more minutes of trading attacks, Coyopa and Orkun both looked exhausted, but they were clearly refusing to give up. Neither of them wanted to show any signs of weakness to the other, even though both of them were obviously getting tired.

"Want to call a truce?" Ash asked Lucas. "I don't know how much more either of them can take at this rate".

Lucas, smiling, shook his head. "No way, Ash. We're going to fight this all the way through to the end. It's going to be an epic battle, and I'm going to win it".

Ash noticed that, at the next court over, a group of trainers, probably a couple of years younger than the quartet at their court, were just starting a battle. He saw that, walking towards the court, was a sandy-haired young man who was perhaps a little older than he was…

And then there was a thudding noise.

Ash looked to see Coyopa unconscious, having slid down the wall and onto the ground. He must have gotten hit with an attack head-on and flown backwards, obviously unable to aim very well, and had gotten a full face-full of the glass wall that encircled the whole area.

 _How did that happen?_

 _It's 'cause you weren't paying attention that that happened. You'd better pay attention, Ash, or you're setting yourself up to fail on the field of battle._

"Yeah!" Lucas exclaimed. "Congratulations, Orkun!'

Ash recalled Coyopa back into his Pokeball and reluctantly walked forward to shake Lucas's hand. "That was a nice battle. Good game".

"Good game" the boy in the beret replied. "Let me put you back in your Pokeball, too, Orkun. You've earned your rest".

The Lucario nodded. Even though Orkun was still conscious, it was clear to tell that, in terms of physical shape, he wasn't much better off than the unconscious Pikachu that had just been put back in his Pokeball. The Lucario appeared very unsteady on his feet.

Dawn ran on over to Lucas and hugged him. "I knew you could do it!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks" her boyfriend mumbled. Then: "Ow, you're crushing me".

"Sorry" Dawn replied, kissing Lucas once more. "You did a really good job against Ash".

"Excuse me?" sneered a voice from behind them.

All four teenagers turned around to see whom it was. And, as it turned out, it was someone Serena recognized.

A sandy-haired young man, probably 21 or 22, stood before them. He looked like a stereotypical math nerd, with glasses and pimples on his forehead. He stared at them with an expression of superiority, and Ash instantly understood whom this person was.

"Cocaine Mitch?" Serena gasped.

"That's right" the man sneered. "Mitchell Canneloni, skill level one hundred and seventeen thousand, four hundred and fifty-one, at your service. Allow me to destroy your Pokemon in a head-to-head matchup. Any takers?"

"I'll do it" Serena replied, gritting her teeth.

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked. "Zora could make short work of his Pokemon".

"Yes" the other girl said. "I will ditch Cocaine Mitch, for the sake of the kids".

* * *

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Amourshipper35: Yeah, I thought it was really funny. I would be so embarrassed if I were Ash in that situation; I'd just have hoped that the ground would swallow me up or something.**

 **Guest: Yes, in this story, each person has one Pokemon partner. Battling is not the main focus of it, as I'm sure you must have realized by now, now that we are five chapters in.**

 **xXx DIGITAL xXx: I'm glad I am improving! Thank you for your continued support.**


	6. For the Sake of the Kids

**I was planning on this chapter being much longer than this, but, once again, I decided against it. A lot happened in it already, in my opinion, and there didn't need to be even more.**

 **Now, I'm thinking that Chapter 8 will be the start of classes. My initial plan was going to be Chapter 7 starting it, but plans can change.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

"For the sake of what kids?" Mitch asked, sounding every bit as arrogant as Serena had described him. To Ash, he sounded like one of those people who perpetually had their noses in the air, feeling as though they were too cool for school, or, for that matter, anything else.

"It's a saying" Serena replied testily. "For the sake of the kids who don't want to see your name plastered on the top spot in the leaderboard".

"That's not going to happen" Cocaine Mitch replied, and now he _was,_ in fact, holding his nose in the air. "I've got the score of 117,451. Nobody's beating me".

"Why are you so obsessed with numbers?" Dawn asked him.

"I don't know" the champion replied. "I just am".

"Okay" said Serena. "So I'm going to use Naviti, my Fletchling. And I'm assuming that you're going to use Blaze?"

Ash had a guess as to what species of Pokemon Blaze was, and he was proven correct when Cocaine Mitch released a Blaziken from its Pokeball. Now, Naviti and Blaze were staring down each other, both looking very deadly.

Mitch nodded. "I'm ready whenever you are".

"Naviti! Use Flail!"

True to the name of the move, the Fletchling started flailing around, clearly desperate to hit whatever it could find, whether it was Blaze or Cocaine Mitch himself. It was clear that Naviti disliked Mitch just as much as the humans present did.

However, the move wasn't effective. Naviti, no matter how hard he tried, just wasn't able to get a hit in on Blaze, who dodged with ease.

"No, Naviti…" Serena said in a worried tone. Almost immediately, she realized that that was a big mistake; she should not have shown any signs of fear. She didn't want Cocaine Mitch to think that he had an opening.

"Ha" Mitch said, looking very smug now indeed. "Blaze, use Blaze Kick!"

Blaze was able to get a good hit in on Naviti, who went flying back towards the glass wall. Fortunately, the Fletchling's trajectory was such that it did not hit the wall, but rather landed on the ground five feet from it. Naviti was able to recover.

"Yes!" Serena exclaimed. "Use Razor Wind!"

The battle went on for a couple more minutes. Naviti and Blaze traded several more attacks, and it didn't appear, for a long time, that there was a favorite at all.

Eventually, however, Naviti was able to knock out Blaze. It was with another Razor Wind, and, unlike the first one, which had barely had an effect on the Blaziken, this one did. It sent the Blaziken spiraling in midair towards the wall, which he slammed into at a very high speed.

Blaze fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Good game" Serena said. She didn't want to gloat, because she was worried about inciting the wrath of Cocaine Mitch. That was one thing you did not do, ever. You never made Mitchell Canneloni angry, because he always had a way of paying you back somehow, and you didn't want what he was offering you, ever.

"Good game" Mitch said, although it was clearly begrudging. It was clear that Cocaine Mitch wasn't going to accept his loss too easily, and Serena almost felt bad for the guy. After all, he was so willing to hold grudges against those who had beaten him; that was not a good personality trait, but she always felt bad for those who had it.

They shook hands. It felt as though Mitch were trying to crush her fingers, so Serena was all too happy when he finally let go.

After that, Mitch turned around and walked through the door on the other side of the court. Once he was out of sight, Serena turned around and faced her friends.

"That was awesome" Ash said. "I can't believe you beat him. That must have increased your score at least a _little"._

"Maybe it did" Serena replied. "Actually, yeah, it probably did by a lot. I highly doubt that I'm out of fourth place, though, although I'm pretty sure that Mitch _must_ be out of first by now".

"You think his score really decreased by…nine hundred and ninety points?" That was Ash talking.

"Yes, it very well may have" Dawn replied. "The scores can fluctuate a _lot._ I'd be very surprised if Cocaine Mitch isn't second at this point".

"I guess you really did it, then" Lucas said to Serena. "You have ditched Cocaine Mitch, for the sake of the kids. I hope that you're proud of yourself, because you did good, Serena. You really did".

The young woman smiled. "Thanks, Lucas. That's what I needed to hear".

"It's no problem" the boy in the beret replied.

Ash turned to Serena. "Congratulations. Really, you did an amazing job".

Serena was blushing slightly now. "Thanks, Ash. That means a lot to me. It really does".

After that, they headed out. As soon as possible, they planned to take Coyopa to a Pokemon center, so that they could heal him up from his battle with Orkun. But, for now, they decided, they were going to celebrate having beaten Cocaine Mitch.

* * *

Sure enough, on the way out of the battling club, they spotted that the scoreboard stated that Mitchell "Cocaine Mitch" Canneloni was now in second place, with 115,900 points. Sarah Culpepper, with a total of 116,461 points, had taken over the lead.

"You did it" Ash said. "You ditched Cocaine Mitch".

Serena was blushing slightly. "Thanks for the compliment. But, to be honest, I'm still not too happy about it. After all, I _am_ in fourth place still".

"But that doesn't matter too much" Lucas replied. "Cocaine Mitch is no longer in first place, and that's what counts".

"True" Serena replied. "But still…".

"You did a great job, Serena" Ash replied. "Don't let anybody convince you otherwise".

They walked out towards Serena's car, which was still parked in the same location as it had been before. She drove them out of the town of Blankenship and back towards the house.

"Just a few days left before school starts" Dawn said. "I'm really looking forward to it".

"Yeah" Lucas replied. "It's going to be amazing. Just starting college - that's quite something".

"I know" his girlfriend said. "And the fact that I've got home economics - not that I ever wanted to be just a housewife, but still".

"Home economics are very useful" Ash said. He had to bite back the urge to say, _And I think that because you're rich, you don't have the same skills that somebody else might._

"Yeah" Dawn replied. "They really are.

Serena had yet to say anything. It was getting more crowded on the streets, so she was getting more and more focused on the road. In spite of that, she was occasionally nodding whenever she agreed with something.

Suddenly, a song came on the radio that Ash recognized. He'd heard it before, but didn't remember its name, or whom it was by.

"What song is that?" he asked Serena.

She temporarily took her eyes off of the road in order to look at the name of the song. "It's 'Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rattatas' by Billy Talonflame" she replied. "They're one of my favorite bands, and they're on tour right now, coming to Pastoria City in about two weeks".

"Can we get tickets?" Lucas asked. "I really like them as well".

"We'll see" Serena replied. "They are pretty expensive".

"That's not a problem" Ash blurted out. "At least, it shouldn't be. You're rich as fuck, after all".

"Yeah" she replied. "I suppose that's true".

Ash let out a sigh of relief. After that gaffe of his, he had been so sure that she had been about to scold him severely, so he was very glad that she had decided not to.

"So", Serena said eventually, "we're almost home. Does anyone want to stop and get some groceries before we get there?"

Nobody said yes. After all, grocery shopping could be very dull work indeed, and nobody wanted to do it right after registering for classes and going to the battling club.

Eventually, she pulled into the mansion's driveway and turned off the engine. Once the car was off, the four of them walked inside.

Debbie and Dominick had woken up long before this, and both of them came running towards the door, glad to see that their daughter had returned.

"Thanks for leaving that note out" Dominick said. "Otherwise, I would have been pretty worried about you guys".

"You're welcome" Serena replied. "Anything that's going to help you guys feel better, it's my pleasure. You know that I care about you guys very, very much".

"Yes, yes" Debbie said. "Ash, can I go and talk to you for a moment?"

Suddenly, Ash wondered if he was in trouble. _Had Debbie heard about what Coyopa had done? Had she woken up from the Pikachu's shout?_

He tried to tell himself not to worry about it, that she wouldn't be so cruel as to mention it to him when he was clearly trying to forget about that morning's events. At the same time…

 _It'll be fine,_ he thought. _Jeez, put a sock in it._

"What is it?" Ash asked Debbie, once they were in his bedroom and out of earshot of the others.

"I'm going to take you to a tailor" she replied. "There, you'll be fitted for the green tunic and the purple pajamas".

"Why?" he asked her. "I like my own clothes well enough".

"It's too bad" Debbie responded, not sounding remorseful at all. "For now, at least, you are a part of our family, and you will thus wear the proper attire for sleep and mealtimes".

"Why those colors, though? I know that green represents wealth".

"How did you know that?" Mrs. Courtland replied. "I don't remember telling you that".

"Serena told me" Ash said. "Green represents being wealthy and proud of it".

"Well, that _is_ true" Debbie replied. "That's where it comes from, the green dinner uniforms. And purple represents sleep; science has shown that it is a comforting color for many, and it certainly helps me ease my mind at night".

"Ease your mind from what?" Ash asked.

"I'd rather not say right now" Mrs. Courtland responded sternly. "You will know in due time, however. Once I get to know you better, I might tell you, but, for now, it's going to be kept a secret from you".

Ash wondered exactly what kind of secrets Debbie was keeping from him. He didn't trust people whom he could tell were keeping a lot of skeletons in the closet.

 _But do these qualify as "skeletons in the closet"?_ , he wondered. _What kinds of things qualify as that?_

"In any case", Mrs. Courtland replied, "we had better go. The tailor is in the town of Starborn Valley, which is where Lucas and Dawn live".

"I knew that they lived there" Ash replied. "We picked them up earlier, when we went to register for our classes".

"And I knew that already" Mrs. Courtland replied.

As they headed out of the bedroom, Ash said, "Hey, wait, first, can I take Coyopa to a Pokemon center, to get him healed up? He lost a battle with Orkun, Lucas's Lucario".

"That won't be necessary. I'm a nurse" Debbie said.

"Then can you fix him up?" Ash asked. "Do you have a healing machine?"

"Yes, we do have a healing machine here" the woman replied. "However, we really must be going. We can heal him later".

"Why can't we heal him now?" Ash asked. "Coyopa is probably in a lot of pain right now".

"Actually, Pokeballs are like stasis chambers; I'm pretty sure you knew that already" Debbie replied. "Coyopa isn't suffering at all; if he was unconscious when he was put in, he'll remain unconscious as long as he is in that Pokeball. Like I said, isn't that pretty basic knowledge".

Ash facepalmed. He had known that before, but, in times like these, when he was so worried about his Pikachu, some of his prior knowledge had been known to go away, and he didn't always consider all of the factors.

"Coyopa will be just fine" Debbie insisted.

"If you say so" Ash replied.

As they went into the mudroom to get their shoes, they ran into Lucas, who was hanging up his beret. The day was getting hotter, and he had evidently just run a couple of laps around the house, so he was sweating a great deal.

"Where are you guys going?" he asked the pair.

"Going into town" said Debbie. "Ash here has to be fitted for his tunic and pajamas".

"Nice" Lucas replied. "Don't worry, Ash. It's not painful".

Ash realized that he must have been grimacing as Lucas had been saying that. If that was the case, it was most likely due to the fact that he didn't like the idea of being poked and prodded until they were able to create a tunic and set of pajamas that fit him.

 _This is going to suck,_ he thought. He generally didn't enjoy getting new shoes in general, and this was going to be a lot more complicated than that, meaning that it was going to take longer.

Besides, it was likely that, whoever this tailor was, he was one of those rich folk who liked to brag about all of their money. If they were going to make him wear a green suit to dinner every evening in order to symbolize how wealthy they were, then that's what they were: snobbish.

As Ash got in the car with Debbie, he looked back at Lucas, who was just entering the house. He was looking as though he was about to have a very good time hanging out with Dawn and Serena.

 _What I wouldn't give to trade places with him..._ Ash thought glumly.

* * *

Once they were inside the town of Starborn Valley, Debbie took Ash downtown, to an area that was more crowded than the residential area in which Dawn and Lucas lived. Here, there were people going about their daily business, just like one could see in any other town.

"The tailor's store is right near here" she said. "Here we go".

She led him into a small brick building that had a sign saying _Maisie's Tailor_ on the front. As soon as they were inside, they walked over to the woman behind the desk, whom Ash assumed was Maisie.

"Yes?" the woman behind the desk asked them.

"I'm Deborah Courtland, and this is Ash Ketchum" Mrs. Courtland said. "I'm here to get him fitted for a green tunic and a pair of purple pajamas".

"Okay" Maisie replied. "We've only got one person here doing the tailoring, so you might have to wait a few minutes. That said, it won't be too long - it usually doesn't take too long to make a suit".

"All right" Debbie said in response. "And it will only take...how long, exactly, until the suit is delivered to our home?"

"It won't be long, perhaps a couple of hours" Maisie replied. "So just take a seat and wait".

Thankfully, there wasn't anybody else waiting in line in order to be measured, which Ash was very grateful for. He wouldn't have wanted to wait; he wanted to get this thing over with as soon as possible.

"Deborah Courtland?" said a voice after ten minutes or so.

Both Ash and Debbie stood up. A tall man with silver hair, dressed in a tuxedo, entered the room.

"Yes - you're ready for us?" Debbie asked him.

The man nodded. He looked to be about sixty years old or so, and Ash had to admit that he was quite handsome. He also looked to be in very good shape for his age, but that wasn't something Ash said out loud. He was socially awkward, but not _that_ socially awkward.

"Come back here" he said. "My name's Jeff, and I'll be the one serving you9 today. What brings you here?"

Ash was about to say it, but it was a good thing, for Jeff's sake, that he didn't get to. Ash would have barely been able to resist cursing out Debbie, Jeff, Maisie, and everybody else who was going to make him be fitted for the same clothes as the rest of the Courtland family.

"We need a pair of purple pajamas and a green tunic in order to fit Ash here" Debbie said.

Jeff looked over both of them. "You're the wife of Dominick Courtland, right? The guy who owns the cruise line, Royal Alolan?"

Debbie nodded. "Yes, Dominick is my husband. He's at work today, so I couldn't bring him to meet you. Sorry".

"It's fine" Jeff replied, shaking the woman's hand. "I went on a Royal Alolan cruise last December; indeed, I go on one every December with my wife. It's always a blast. Tell your husband thank you from me for making it that way".

Debbie blushed. "Thanks, Jeff".

"No problem" the tailor replied. "In any case, we didn't come here to chat. Let's get you measured, Ash".

The process of measuring Ash was not a fun one. Even though he tried to be still the whole time, since that was what he had been asked to do, such a task was much easier said than done.

"All right" Jeff said, after what must have been forty-five minutes of trying to measure Ash. "We have all the measurements in order to make the clothes. You are free to go, and they will be delivered to your home sometime this afternoon. What is your address again?"

"2047 Middlesex Avenue" Debbie replied. "It's near Sundae River Mountain Resort, you know? Just on top of a huge hill near it".

"We know where that is, thank you" Jeff replied. "We keep a database of all of our customers here. Like I said, sometime this afternoon is when you can expect to receive the clothing".

"I am looking forward to it" Mrs. Courtland said in response.

"My fee will be $364.96" said the tailor. "Cash or credit?"

"Credit".

"Okay. Make sure that the amount is paid. I hope you have a nice day".

"Thank you" Debbie replied. "I hope the same for you".

After that, they left the shop, and Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He no longer had to stand completely still as he was being measured.

Of course, however, that didn't mean that his nightmare was over. In fact, it had only just begun.

 _I've been here for less than 24 hours,_ he thought. _There's still plenty of time for this to be a nightmare for me._

For now, however, he was relieved. He couldn't wait to head back and spend the rest of the day with Serena and the others.

* * *

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Amourshipper35: Well, Serena did ditch Cocaine Mitch. The name is a reference to an advertisement by Don Blankenship, a guy who ran for U.S. Senate from West Virginia this year. You might have heard of him.**

 **Guest: Yes, Serena swore. This story is rated M. Deal with it.**

 **Opc3: That's because Ash and Serena aren't "official" yet. Once they are "official", that's when the Ash/Serena moments will happen. And there are a lot of them planned, because this story is going to be really long.**

 **xXx DIGITAL xXx: Thank you so much for all of your support!**


	7. The Lake House

**This is Chapter 7, and it's the longest chapter yet, at 4,000+ words. It's not the longest one I've ever written, not by a long shot, but I do plan on making these chapters longer as I go. I have some plans that will likely turn into very long chapters in the future, plans I can't wait to write down.**

 **In other news, it's another primary day today. I'm going to stay up late to watch the results.**

 **I've also accumulated 15 favorites and 22 follows on this story. That is awesome!**

* * *

Ash was very happy when the car finally pulled into the mansion's driveway. Not only would he now get to see his new friends again, but he would also be able to heal Coyopa. That is, if Debbie was indeed telling the truth about having a healing machine in her house.

 _I mean, she is a nurse,_ Ash reminded himself. _Why would she lie to me about that?_

As soon as he walked inside, he was greeted by Serena. "Hello" she said.

"Hey" Ash replied, rubbing the back of his neck slightly. "What's going on?"

"Not much" the girl replied. "We were just going to have lunch, the four of us. Mom's going to take my younger siblings to the beach".

"You're not going?"

Serena shook her head. "Dawn didn't want to, and, besides, I like spending time here a lot as well. There are a lot of things we could do, like hang out in the Jacuzzi".

"Sweet" Ash replied, thinking about that. "Maybe later, though? Right now, I'm really hungry".

Indeed, his stomach was growling. He'd had a pretty small breakfast, and a busy day thus far. He could definitely do with eating something.

"Chef Blumiere made chicken pot pie for us" she said. "It's currently cooling down, but we can start eating it in a few minutes. And we were just having a game of poker".

"Poker?" Ash asked.

"Well, we don't actually play for money" Serena replied. "I'm pretty sure that the laws of Sinnoh prohibit gambling except at registered casinos. And you have to be twenty-one to enter a casino, unfortunately; that's the law here".

Ash nodded. He went over to the table, where Lucas was dealing cards to himself, Dawn, and an empty seat that Ash presumed was Serena's. Dawn was motioning for the other girl to come on over so that they could continue the game.

He turned to face Debbie, who had been standing behind Ash this whole time.

"What is it?" he asked her, trying not to sound rude.

"You mentioned wanting to heal your Pikachu after the battle from earlier. Well, now is the time to do that. Come and bring your Pokeball over, and we can do it. I'll show you where the healing machine is".

Ash nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me".

He went and grabbed his Pokeball, which he always kept on the bedside table now. It had become second nature to him; this was where Coyopa belonged for as long as he stayed with the Courtland family.

He'd decided to forgive the Pikachu for what he had done earlier, embarrassing the young man. It hadn't been easy, and he had struggled with it for the last several hours. Now, however, he felt as though he had reached a point where he could, in fact, do it.

"Here we go" said Debbie, leading him into a small room in the basement. Ash had mistaken it for a closet last night, but now it was clear to him that it was anything but. There was more to the picture than met the eye.

"This place is pretty awesome" Ash said in response. "Is that the healing machine?"

As he asked that question, he pointed to a fairly large device in one corner of the room. It sure looked like the healing machines he had seen when he'd been at Pokemon centers.

"Indeed it is" Mrs. Courtland replied, eyeing the area. "This is where I've always kept the healing machine. Bring out Coyopa, now, and put him in here".

Ash released Coyopa from his Pokeball. The Pikachu was still unconscious, just as Debbie had said he would be, so he wasn't too surprised by the scene he found before him.

After Debbie opened the door of the machine, the young man placed his Pikachu inside. Coyopa didn't even stir as he did so.

"He'll be right as rain in ten minutes" Debbie said. "Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?"

"Not really" Ash replied. "I think I'll go upstairs and have lunch with the others. Is that all right with you?"

Mrs. Courtland smiled sweetly, in a motherly fashion, and, for the first time, Ash could imagine her as a motherly figure. _Not that I'd want her as my mother, though._

"Yes, it is" she replied. "I'm about to take Sam, Bella, Patrick, and Corinne to the beach. Want to come?"

Ash shook his head. "I think I'll hang out with the other enrollees" he replied.

Debbie nodded, and Ash took that as his cue to leave. He made a mental note to come back in ten minutes to retrieve Coyopa from the healing machine.

Once he was upstairs, he saw that a chicken pot pie had been set on the table, and that Lucas, Dawn, and Serena were all sitting around it, not eating a bite. Ash realized that they must have been waiting for him.

"All right" he said. "I'm here. Let's dig in!"

The food was pretty awesome, Ash decided. He wasn't sure where Chef Blumiere had gotten his cooking skills - probably from some fancy culinary school in Saffron City, Kanto or someplace like that. In any case, he didn't particularly care, because the dude had _skills._ That was what counted.

"Ash, once we're done with lunch, I want to take you somewhere near here" Serena said eventually, once she had swallowed a bite of chicken.

"In the car?" he asked.

Serena shook her head. "We don't need to drive there. It's only a mile or two away, and it's pretty nice out. I think you'll love the place, too".

Ash smiled. "Sounds nice".

"Are you talking about the lake?" Lucas asked. "I've been there before".

"I am" Serena replied. Turning towards Ash, she said, "There's a lake on the property, surrounded by pretty dense forest. Well, there are other peoples' properties in between, but we own part of area around the lake".

Ash couldn't believe that he hadn't seen the lake before. He'd been too focused on the mountain far away that he hadn't noticed that a small lake was located at the bottom of the hill, just two miles away.

"You're up for a little afternoon stroll, aren't you, Ash?"

The young man nodded. Then, realizing that it must have been around ten minutes, he said, "Please excuse me for a minute. I have to get Coyopa out of the healing machine".

After the other three nodded their approval, Ash went back downstairs. Sure enough, Coyopa had woken up, and he appeared agitated at still being stuck inside the machine.

Ash pressed the button that opened the glass and allowed Coyopa to climb into Ash's arms.

"Do you want to play outside now?" the boy asked the Pikachu.

The yellow mouse-like creature nodded. " _Yes, of course!"_

"All right".

Ash led Coyopa back upstairs and back to where the others were eating. He opened the door in order to let his Pikachu outside; after that, he sat back down with the other teens.

"So...hot tub later?" Dawn asked. "We left our bathing suits here, so we can do it".

"Sounds like a plan" Serena replied. "But, like I said, wait for a while. We could continue the game of poker first".

"I like that idea" Lucas said.

All three of them looked at Ash, who simply shrugged. "I'm down with whatever you guys want to do" he said.

"First the lake" Serena said. "I really want to show you the property we have there. Then, we can come back and inish the poker game".

"Okay" Dawn replied, sounding rather indifferent to the whole situation, as though she would be happy with anything.

"All right" Serena replied. "Follow me, Ash, once we're done with our lunch".

For the next five minutes, there were a couple of conversations, but there was mostly eating. Everyone else seemed pretty hungry, which wasn't too surprising. However, Ash couldn't help but wonder about a few things.

For one, he now knew that the Courtland family held property on the lake nearby. How much did that property cost, he wondered? And that then led into another question: Just how rich was this family?

 _I mean, Serena's dad does own the cruise line Royal Alolan. That sure makes a lot of money, I can imagine,_ he thought.

As soon as they were done with their food, Serena said, "Okay, Ash. Let me show you the way to the lake house".

 _Okay. So there's an apartment they own in the Coronet Range. That's where they ski at Christmas every year. And then they have a second house on the lake, only two miles away from their main home._

 _This is kind of ridiculous._

Serena led Ash out of the back door and onto the porch. He hadn't yet seen the house's backyard, at least not very clearly. Now, from the porch, he could tell that the yard was a pretty decent size for a Pikachu as energetic as Coyopa to run around in. He might have been chasing a Butterfree right now, for all Ash knew.

"There's a trail here that goes through the woods" she said. "Normally, we all put on bug repellant, especially to avoid Deerling ticks".

"Deerling ticks?" Ash asked. "Don't those give you Lyme disease or something like that?"

Serena nodded. "It's not fun, trust me on that. In any case, just be careful, check your legs afterwards, and you should probably shower as well. Just to be safe, you know? We don't want anything bad to happen to you while you stay with us".

"That's sweet" the young man replied. "Thanks for looking out for me".

"It's really no problem" Serena said in response. "After all, you are a part of our family, for as long as you stay here".

 _That's an interesting way of looking at it,_ Ash thought. _But if it informs their ethics in any positive way, I'm not complaining._

The walk to the lake was mostly downhill, down a narrow trail through the forest covered with rocks, roots, and moss.

"You need to be pretty attentive at this part" Serena said at one point. "The rocks and roots can roll your ankle if you're not careful, and trust me, I learned that the hard way one time".

By now, they were about halfway down the trail, a mile from both the mansion and the lake house. If one was injured here, they would have to walk a mile in order to be helped, which was obviously a pretty bad scenario.

After another mile, during which Ash became increasingly aware of just how hot a day it was, Serena led him into a clearing with a house in it.

"We're here" she said, pointing at the house. "This one is ours".

Ash nodded, looking at the building in front of him. It was a simple two-story dwelling, nothing fancy. It stood on the side of a hill, and there was a small, rocky path leading down to a small beach.

"There are paddleboards and kayaks in the basement of this house" Serena said. "Of course, since we're not wearing our bathing suits, I don't think we should use them right now. That, and I promised Dawn and Lucas that we'd be back soon".

"I see" Ash replied.

Looking around, he saw that it was a very pretty area indeed. All around the edge of the lake, there were trees of various types. Some were evergreen, while some were deciduous. Some were tall, and some were shorter.

"What do you think of it?" she asked him, looking into his eyes

"It's beautiful" he replied.

Serena stuck out her hand, presumably for him to take, and Ash decided that he would in fact take it.

It wasn't just because he didn't want to disappoint Serena. It was that he genuinely _wanted_ to take her hand. Something about it felt natural, _right._

 _That doesn't have to mean anything,_ he told himself. _I just wanted to hold her hand, because...I like holding hands, okay?_

 _No,_ another part of his mind said. _You wanted to hold her hand, because you think she is hot. There is a big difference._

At this point, Ash would have been happy to cut open his head and throw his brain into the garbage. It was thinking so many ridiculous thoughts that he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Serena asked him. "You seem a little...agitated".

"I'm fine" he replied, although he really wasn't. He just couldn't get rid of the thought that maybe, just maybe, he saw Serena as something more than just a friend.

* * *

On the way back to the mansion, Ash was once again in a war with his own mind.

 _Do I have a crush on her?,_ he wondered. _That just makes no sense...I'm not the romantic type._

 _Dude, stop worrying about it. Soon, you'll have other things to focus on, like your classes._

 _That's true,_ he thought.

Once Ash and Serena reached the back porch of the mansion, they saw that Dawn and Lucas were already there, simply sunbathing. Lucas was wearing a swim shirt and bathing suit, while Dawn was in a bikini.

"Hey" Lucas said, sitting up and looking at Serena and Ash. "What is up?"

"Not much" Serena replied. "It looks like the two of you want to go to the lake. Would I be correct in assuming that?"

"You sure would be" said Dawn. "We were waiting for you guys to come back, so that you guys could put on your bathing suits and all. I didn't want to go to the public beach, so I wondered if you guys wanted to have a different kind of beach day".

 _We just walked two miles there and two miles back,_ Ash thought. _Now, they're proposing that we walk another two miles there and ANOTHER two miles back._

 _Sounds good to me!_

"Sure" Serena replied. "Let's just get changed first. Then, we can go swimming and all of that good stuff".

"Yes, let's" Lucas said. "I'll be waiting for you out here".

Ash went inside and got his bathing suit on. While he couldn't see Serena (and he was grateful for that, very much so), he could only assume that she was doing the same thing. When they came back out and faced each other, Ash said, "You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's just bring some sunscreen".

"Didn't bring any in my suitcase" Ash said, slapping himself on the forehead. "Man, I wish I would have".

"It's fine" Serena replied. "I have some here".

"Towels?"

"We don't need them. It's a pretty hot, dry day; we'll dry off on the rocks".

It was true; the lake's beach was not a sandy one, but was rather made up of small rocks that hurt one's feet when they were walking on them barefoot. Therefore, they wouldn't get all sandy if they did that.

"All right. Let's meet up with them".

They went outside to find that Dawn and Lucas were still waiting for them. This wasn't surprising, since they had said that they would be.

"I have exciting news, you guys" Serena said, as the four of them were walking down the trail towards the lake house.

"What is it?" Ash asked. He really wanted to know.

"I've gotten us tickets to the Billy Talonflame concert" she replied. "Four of them".

"Shut up!", Dawn exclaimed. "Really?"

"Yep" Serena said smugly. "They cost a pretty penny, but that's okay. Every second of the concert is going to be worth it".

"Where is the concert going to be held?" Ash asked. He wasn't familiar with the whole Pastoria City metropolitan area, so he didn't know of any music venues that the band might be playing at.

"There's Titanium Stadium downtown" Serena replied. "That's where it is. And the tickets were $1,811 each, I believe".

"That's unbelievable" Lucas said, his jaw dropping. "I can't believe it's so much. But thank you".

"It's no problem. That's chump change for us".

There it was again; another casual statement of wealth by one of the Courtlands. Ash just couldn't believe how conceited this family could be in general.

Yes, he did like Serena; perhaps he even _loved_ her, as some of his thoughts were suggesting. But even she wasn't immune from the sense of entitlement that came with having more money than you knew what to do with. Nobody was perfect, and some people were very, very far from it.

"What's your favorite song by them?" Dawn asked Serena. "Mine's Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rattatas".

"I don't know" Serena replied. "I like their cover of 'I Can Do Whatever I'm White'".

"Oh, that song is _wonderful_ " Lucas said. "I could listen to it all day. Especially the part about being in Jubilife City and running red lights - that's the best part".

"I see" Ash replied. He'd never heard that song before, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to.

Once they got to the lake house, Serena showed Ash were the paddleboards and kayaks were, and Ash grabbed one of the paddleboards. Each teen also donned a life jacket.

"I'm assuming that you can swim, Ash" Serena said. "I've already seen Lucas and Dawn in action in the water, and they're pretty strong swimmers, but it's the law that you have to wear a life jacket whenever you're participating in any form of recreation on the water".

Ash nodded before putting his on. In his opinion, it made him look a little bit dorky; it was one of those orange ones that didn't go all the way around one's back.

 _Why do I care about looking dorky around her or not?,_ Ash wondered. _Am I really so vain?_

 _Yes, you are,_ a voice in his head replied. _And you're in love. You're in love with Serena, or else you wouldn't be thinking this way._

 _That's not true,_ he told himself. _I'm just a 19-year-old dude, hanging out with his friends. I have a right to desire to not look dorky, don't I?_

 _Just admit it, Ash, and make everything so much easier._

"Serena?" he asked.

She turned towards him. "Yes?"

"I changed my mind about the paddleboard. Can I go in a kayak with you?"

Serena's face lit up. "Of course" she replied. "Let's do it".

 _There you go,_ his brain said. _You just asked her to go in a kayak with you. That's called making the first move, and you're off to a good start._

They grabbed the yellow double kayak from the basement of the house and carried it out towards the water. Dawn and Lucas had each grabbed paddleboards, and they were also carrying them towards the water.

"This really is a job for two people" Ash said, grunting at the weight of the kayak. He wasn't exactly a weakling, but he was no bodybuilder either.

They placed the kayak in the water and then set off. Almost immediately, Ash felt at peace.

Yes, he was under the stress of having classes start a few days from now, as well as trying to puzzle out whether or not he liked Serena. And then there was the issue of whether Serena liked him back or not.

 _She does,_ Ash told himself.

 _You just admitted it!_

Ash smiled, grateful that Serena wasn't looking back at him. Ash had gotten into the back seat of the kayak, since he was heavier than the girl.

Once they were out on the water, a good hundred yards from the edge of the lake (which wasn't a large one, probably only a couple hundred yards wide), Ash was able to get a good view of the rest of the lake. And it was a beautiful one.

All along the edge of the lake, he could see various small homes, most likely summer houses that various families owned. Ash and his parents had never owned one, mainly because they weren't as wealthy as the Courtland family.

Now, though, he knew that he was living a life of luxury, and he had to be grateful for it. Not everybody got opportunities like this, and he had to take full advantage of it.

"Tell me about the Christmas trip to the Coronet Range" Ash requested of Serena. "That sounds pretty awesome to me".

"Well, we always travel by train" the girl replied. "Always in a first-class compartment, or, usually two of them. One for the kids and one for the parents".

"I see. There are up to six people per compartment, right?"

"Yeah" Serena replied. "The first class seats recline, and you get better food if you are in first class. And the train trip there is the _least_ awesome part of it".

Ash had been on vacation with his parents a few times, but he had never travelled first class. Now, it occurred to him, he would get to do that. Every time the family travelled, he would be able to travel in style.

 _And that's how the rest of your life will be, if you marry this girl,_ a voice inside his head said.

 _Oh, shut up._

"Ash, careful on your right".

Ash looked into the water, and he expected to see Lucas or Dawn going by on a paddleboard. Instead, he noticed, they were a good fifty to a hundred yards away, minding their own business on the water.

"What is that?" he asked, looking downwards. He thought he saw a blue Pokemon, with a large head of sorts.

"That's a Tentacruel" Serena replied. "The giant Tentacruel, that is. He's over a hundred years old and twelve feet long, and he's been living in the lake for as long as anyone can remember. Trust me, you do _not_ want to encounter him in there".

Ash shivered. "But is it okay to accidentally touch him with the paddle?"

"No, it's not" Serena said. "If you do, you will get stung and electrocuted. My mother once had to treat a man who got stung".

"What happened to him?" Ash asked, purposely giving the Tentacruel a wide berth.

"Oh, he was fine" the girl replied. "But he was in pain for quite a few weeks. Really, you want to be careful about these things".

"As if there was ever any need to remind me" Ash replied. "I suppose you're right".

"Yeah".

* * *

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Amourshipper35: Yeah, Ash doesn't like to stand still. Neither do I. I might have ADHD as well as Asperger's, but I've only ever been diagnosed with the latter.**

 **Guest 1: I just liked to use a Fletchling; I thought that it is rather cute, and everyone knows how cute certain Pokemon can be.**

 **Guest 2: They're not based on another family. I created Debbie and Dominick Courtland for my own purposes.**

 **Opc3: Thanks! I can't write any slower than this; I spend three to five hours a day writing sometimes. As for those moments, well...you'll have to see, won't you?**


	8. Dawn of the 1st Day: 6,570 Hours Remain

**Here is Chapter 8, the longest one yet, at roughly 4,200 words. I'm currently sitting in traffic on my commute home from school, and I thought that there was no better time to update.**

 **This is where it really starts. This is the first chapter in which Ash actually attends any classes at his university. I hope you enjoy it, as well as my Twitter account; my username there is KingSledge2000. Be warned: There is a lot of political talk there from me (I plan to study creative writing and/or political science in college).**

 **One last note: My birthday is coming up next week, and I'm hoping to get a Nintendo Switch. If I do, updates may slow a bit. But, with that, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

The next couple of days passed quickly for Ash. He was very happy to be able to spend time with Serena, and, when they did come over, Dawn and Lucas. Luckily, the couple from Starborn Valley came over every day, and, since there were plenty of things to do here, he wasn't bored.

However, he did have a sense of apprehension that only grew every day. Every day, he got closer and closer to the beginning of his classes. Closer and closer to the day of reckoning, as it were, when he would find out if he was any good at college-level academics.

He really hoped that the answer to that question was yes. He'd gotten pretty good grades in elementary, middle, and high school, and he saw no reason that that should stop now.

On the morning of his first classes, Ash woke up early. Looking around his room, it was still pretty dark; no sunlight was streaming in through the windows, and so Ash came to the conclusion that the sun had not yet risen over southeastern Sinnoh.

He looked over at his bedside table, where his Pokeball was currently sitting. He wouldn't bring Coyopa to the university on the very first day, he had decided; he was going to wait and see if it would be necessary in the subsequent days and weeks. That was what sounded like the best idea to him.

For what must have been over an hour, Ash just lay there nervously. He couldn't believe that it was actually starting today.

 _College,_ he thought. _My first day._

He'd been looking forward to college ever since grade school, but now he was a little worried. He hoped that there weren't a lot of cliques at this school, because he was rather socially awkward; he wasn't going to fit into any of them at all.

Eventually, he decided that he could use someone to talk to. Looking at his clock, he saw that it was 5:37 AM. That meant that Serena and the others were most likely still asleep. He didn't want to wake them up.

Ash grabbed his Pokeball and released Coyopa from it. The Pikachu looked around for a few moments, before turning to his master.

" _You let me out?",_ Coyopa asked. " _Why?"_

"Because I just need somebody to talk to" the young man replied. "It's pretty early in the morning, and I'm nervous".

Coyopa whimpered slightly. " _Why are you nervous?"_

"Because it's the first day of my freshman year of college" Ash replied. "I just don't know if I'll fit in. I don't know how my classes are going to go. And I can't bring you there, not today".

" _Why not?"_ Coyopa replied, continuing to whimper.

"Because I don't want to get in trouble" the young man said in response. "You know that I care about you deeply, but I'm not sure if I am allowed to bring you to class. Here's the deal; I'll bring you tomorrow if the rules of the school allow it".

Coyopa smiled. " _That sounds like a deal"._

For a while, the two just sat there in silence. Eventually, Ash said, "I think I should get up now. Serena told me that we're leaving at 7:15 in order to pick up Lucas and Dawn".

" _I see"._

"Indeed. Classes start at 8:15, but we have to be there at eight. That's just the way it goes. I'm afraid that you'll be alone for most of the day".

Coyopa frowned. " _I don't like being alone"._

"Well", Ash replied, "I could keep you in the Pokeball, and let you out when I get back. Would you prefer it be that way instead?"

The Pikachu nodded.

"All right, then. I'll put you back in".

Ash did as he said he would do, and then he decided that he might as well get dressed and brush his teeth. Staying in bed would only delay the inevitable.

He brushed his teeth, thinking about that day, and what kinds of tasks he would have to perform. It was likely that, since it was only the first day, they would spend a great deal of time simply being oriented to what would be expected of them; that was how it had been in grade school and high school for Ash.

Once he got out of the bathroom and headed into the kitchen area, he saw that Serena was already up.

"Morning, Ash" she said.

The way she smiled and her eyes lit up made Ash's heart flutter. He couldn't believe that she could just look so attractive.

 _I can't think about that right now,_ he decided. _That's a scary thought._

"Morning, Serena" the young man replied, going over to the drawers and getting some breakfast cereal. He'd decided that he was going to have a light breakfast this morning, because he didn't have much of an appetite.

"Looking forward to our first classes today?"

Ash shrugged. "Yeah, but I'm still nervous". He was proud of being able to admit it to Serena; he hadn't thought that he would have been able to.

 _That means you're in love with her._

"I see" Serena replied. "Well, you've just got to get on the grind, you know? That's how I plan to deal with it, for example".

"That does not sound like a bad coping mechanism" Ash replied. "In fact, I think that's exactly what I would do".

The young woman smiled. "In any case, as soon as you're done eating, let's go pick up Lucas and Dawn. We're going to go there together, and we're going to leave together".

"Do they have their licenses?" Ash asked.

"Dawn does. Lucas doesn't. In fact, Lucas has never driven before".

"He doesn't even have his permit? Isn't he nineteen?"

"Well, you're 19 as well, and you don't have your license. It's not abnormal, so don't set too much store by it. That said, yes, Dawn will sometimes drive Lucas, but not today".

"I see" Ash replied.

The next few minutes passed mostly in silence. The other Courtland children got up - Sam, Bella, and Patrick. Corinne's elementary school didn't start until a little later, and it was somewhat closer to the mansion, meaning that she could afford to sleep in a little.

Eventually, Serena said, "Get your backpack - it's time to go. We don't have any time to waste".

"But it's only 7:02" Ash said.

"Doesn't matter. There might be traffic, and we have to see what the conditions are today, and then we can more easily guess what it's going to be like for the rest of the year".

"That's fair".

Ash went back to his bedroom and took one last look at it. Grabbing his backpack from one corner of the room, he headed out of the house with Serena.

The drive to Lucas's house passed without much fanfare. There wasn't a lot of traffic, so Serena had pretty much been worrying for nothing, at least so far.

They arrived at the Winters household in Starborn Valley to find that the beret-clad boy was standing on his porch, carrying his backpack over his shoulders. He looked as though he had been waiting for Ash and Serena for some time.

"Morning" he said, walking down his front steps and towards the car".

"Morning" Ash replied. "You looking forward to the first classes?"

Lucas nodded. "I can't wait to see what kinds of things we're going to learn in...Pokemon Biology. That's what I have for second period".

Ash consulted his schedule once again. "I have that as well. We have second period together!"

Reaching over the area in between the two front seats, Ash high-fived Lucas. Over the last few days, the boys had built a fairly strong bond with one another, even considering the fact that they hadn't been friends for very long. Ash didn't know why, but they had really just clicked.

Dawn took a little longer to show once they arrived at her house. Evidently, she had not noticed the car outside of her house for at least a minute or two. Right after Serena had honked the horn, however, it became clear that that was what it had taken for Dawn to notice.

After Dawn was in the car, it wasn't long until the four young adults arrived at the university. It wasn't yet eight o'clock, so they would have to wait for a few minutes in front of the admissions office.

It had been fairly hot for the last few days, but, this morning, the air was remarkably crisp. Autumn, if it had not arrived already, was clearly not too far off.

 _I can't wait for the bell to ring,_ Ash realized.

He then realized that the reason for this was twofold. One, he was looking forward to his classes. He wanted to get to know some more of his schoolmates, get to know what his classes were going to be like.

The other reason was that he wanted to be away from Serena, at least for a little while. He wanted to have some time to himself (or not to _himself,_ necessarily, since there were so many other students), so that he could simply think about whether or not he was really infatuated with the girl or not.

 _And I'll have to focus on my lessons,_ he thought. _I think that goes without saying._

Eventually, the bell rang, signalling that 8:00 had arrived. Ash immediately consulted his schedule.

 _I have fifteen minutes to get to Mathematics,_ he thought. _And where is that?_

He looked at his schedule, and it said that it was located in Room 123. The problem, of course, was that Ash didn't have the slightest idea of how to get there, or if there was even any system as to which rooms were in which hallways.

Eventually, however, after walking down the tiled floors, he managed to find a hallway that had Room 101 on one side of it. After that, there was Room 102.

 _I might have just found it,_ he thought.

Sure enough, Room 123 was at the end of the hallway. There weren't any lockers at this school, at least not any that Ash had seen. And, if there _were_ any, they had clearly forgotten to assign him one. Therefore, the laws of probability stated that there were most likely no lockers here.

Once he was inside the room, he saw that there were only about thirty students in the room. It was just the size of your average high school class, not your typical college lecture hall.

 _Nice,_ Ash thought.

He'd always preferred going to schools with smaller class sizes; he felt that that system suited him better. Now, he was attending a college that had them.

Ash had taken some pre-calculus in high school, but he had then moved on to statistics. He wondered what the curriculum would be here.

Soon enough, a Lucario entered the room. This one was clearly female, which Ash could tell because...well, he just could.

"Good morning, class" she said. "My name is Professor Vinaka, and I will be your mathematics professor for this semester. I hope that you all pay close attention to what I am about to tell you; it is vitally important".

There was, as Ash had expected, the usual thirty-minute lecture that was the introduction to the class. Ash zoned out during it, and, come the end of the lecture, he wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't fallen asleep during it.

"All right" Professor Vinaka said eventually. "That is what my class is all about. Calculus is required in very heavy degrees here, so it's vital that you pay close attention during all of my lectures".

That was all it took. Ash was now focused, completely locked in to whatever Professor Vinaka was going to say. He didn't want to fail the first test, which, for all he knew, could be the very next day.

She handed out a worksheet with several problems on it. "If this is not completed by the end of class today, it becomes homework. You have roughly thirty minutes, so I suggest you begin now".

Professor Vinaka began pacing the room, looking at several students disapprovingly. Eventually, her eyes fell on Ash.

His heart started pounding in his chest. He had a feeling that, whatever the Lucario professor was about to say, it wasn't going to be good.

After that, though, she moved on, and Ash realized that she must have seen nothing to criticize there.

 _Good,_ he thought. _There really was nothing to criticize. A total witch hunt is what she's doing._

From the very moment she had entered the room, looking quite stern indeed, Ash had decided that he didn't like Professor Vinaka. It was also clear that she didn't like him either. For whatever reason, it seemed almost as though she had a personal vendetta against him.

 _That's silly,_ he told himself. _She hardly even knows me. And besides, a lot of teachers are like that. At least, that's what it is like in my experience._

The calculus problems were giving him a great deal of trouble. He looked around the room, and several other students appeared stumped as well. There was at least that, the knowledge that he wasn't alone in being confused.

 _But I'll have to do this for homework tonight,_ he thought.

Ash hated doing homework. The whole point of going to school, after all, was to do work. There seemed to be no reason, at least in his own opinion, that work had to be done outside of the classroom. It seemed rather weird.

Ash needed a reprieve from math class, and he got it in the form of the bell ringing, signalling that the period had ended.

 _Finally!,_ he thought. Even if he was going to have to finish up the sheet later, either at home or in study hall (was there a such thing as study hall here?), Ash was glad that he could move on to something else. He'd be able to inject a bit of variety into his day.

 _Let's see...I have Pokemon biology at 9:15. Probably only three minutes or so to find it...very good thing indeed that it's in Room 107, which should be in this hallway._

Sometimes, Ash's thoughts came out at a rapid-fire pace, much like machine gun fire. Some might suspect that he had ADHD or something like that; he was known to act impulsively on occasion.

He found the room easily, just as he had expected. As he walked in, he saw that the teacher was a fairly burly man with graying hair and a small beard.

 _So the teachers here are both human and Pokemon,_ Ash thought. _That's pretty cool._

"Good morning" said the teacher. "You're the first one in here".

"Really?" Ash asked.

The teacher nodded. "My name's Professor Zantry, and I'm your Pokemon biology professor. Take a seat, but make sure that you are happy with it, because these are going to be your assigned seats for the rest of the semester".

Ash made sure that he chose a seat from which it would be easy to focus on the teacher. He decided that the back of the room had too many distractions, such as posters and lab tables. At the front of the room, however, he risked being stared at by Professor Zantry.

Eventually, he decided that he might as well take a seat in the middle of the room. There were other students entering the room now, and one of them was Lucas.

The boy in the beret was looking a bit nervous; it occurred to Ash that he might have been rather squeamish. Was it blood he had a fear of, or needles, or the inside of Pokemon bodies?

 _Well, whatever he's afraid of, it's a fear he's going to have to get over,_ Ash thought. _I kind of feel bad for him, to be honest._

As soon as the room had been filled up with twenty or so students, Professor Zantry began his lecture.

"As you know, this is Pokemon Biology class. There are a variety of things you will learn here, such as what they eat, how their bodies process food, the various elements their bodies are made up of…does anyone have a Pokemon that they can use for a demonstration?"

A student raised his hand. This was a boy with a fairly small body, with slightly tanned skin and wearing a baseball hat.

"Yes?" Zantry asked him. "What is your name?"

"I'm Jacob" the boy replied. "And I've got a Machamp with me".

 _Apparently we were allowed to bring Pokemon to school after all,_ Ash thought, taking note of that. He reminded himself that, tomorrow, he would bring in Coyopa. He couldn't wait to see what sort of elements the Pikachu was made up of…

 _But would Coyopa really want to be examined underneath a microscope, or anything else?_ , Ash wondered. _Because, to me, I certainly wouldn't want that. It sounds quite stressful, to be honest._

"Sweet" Professor Zantry replied. "Release him from his Pokeball, and I'll shine the light on him".

 _You can tell all that information about a Pokemon just by shining some kind of special light on them?,_ Ash wondered. _That's pretty cool, but might the radiation harm Coyopa? That's not a risk I would want to take._

 _It's for science, though,_ one half of his brain said.

 _But Coyopa's not a science experiment!,_ the other half of his brain replied forcefully.

 _Maybe Pokemon are all science experiments. Maybe, Ash, YOU YOURSELF are a science experiment._

 _Shut up._

Jacob walked over to what appeared to be a high-tech computer projector. He held out his hand holding the Pokeball and released the Machamp.

"This Machamp is Maku" he said. "That's his name. So let's see what he is made ot".

"Everybody, you might want to look away" Professor Zantry said. "The light that will be shot out of this beam is extremely bright. In fact, please do look away".

Ash didn't need to be told twice. He shifted around in his chair so that he was now looking out the window rather than in the direction of the projector.

There was a sound like a laser beam being fired out of a cannon, and then Professor Zantry said, "You guys can all look now".

All of the students turned around to face the SMART board on the wall, where a pie chart was being shone. It stated the elements that made up Maku the Machamp.

"As you can see", the professor said, "Maku here is made up of three different elements. There is Zexonyte, which is commonly found in meteors. That makes up approximately 48.58% of Maku's body. Then, there is Wyomium, making up roughly 44.86%. Finally, hydrogen makes up 6.56% of the body, simply because every Pokemon needs it in order to survive.

 _This is interesting,_ Ash thought. And it really was; he couldn't remember having a biology lesson that was as interactive as this. He only wished that he could have brought in Coyopa, but he reminded himself that he could do so tomorrow. That was a reassuring thought.

After that, there was a 45-minute lecture, a full three-quarters of an hour, about the various properties of each element. Ash could hardly bring himself to care about it too much, but he did remind himself that he needed to be paying close attention. His grade depended on it, after all.

"Homework", said Professor Zantry, "will be to write five hundred words on the properties of Zexonyte and Wyomium. This will be due tomorrow, the next time I see you. Essays will be graded on spelling, grammar, and punctuation".

 _What does he think he is, our English teacher?,_ Ash wondered bitterly.

"Yes" he said. "I will see you tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day".

As soon as Ash left the room, he let out a sigh of relief. Professor Zantry might appear to be nicer than Professor Vinaka, but he only _appeared_ that way. In reality, he was one cruel, cruel man, assigning them five hundred words on the first day.

He considered making them five hundred mediocre words on purpose, just to spite his teacher, but he wasn't going to do that. Ash just wasn't that type of person, and definitely not one to purposely sabotage his own grade.

Finally, he reached his third class of the day, Home Economics. Ash, who had never had very many independent living skills, was grateful that this was an actual class here.

This room held a variety of students. He noticed that Serena was sitting near the back of it, and the teacher was a burly, fair-haired young man with blue eyes. He was standing next to his desk, with one hand placed on it.

"Hello, class" this teacher said. "My name is Mr. Holland, and I teach Home Economics here at Greater Pastoria University. As I am sure that all of you are aware, this is quite an important subject; it's all about being able to make a living for yourself, and not just in terms of making money".

One girl raised her hand, and Mr. Holland called on her. "What's your name?", he asked her.

"Daisy" she replied.

"Okay, Daisy. What is your question?"

"Will we learn how to cook here? Will we make recipes?"

Mr. Holland smiled, a smile that somehow held both youth and authority. "Yes. We will make recipes in this class, and you will get to take home some of them back to your homes or dormitories. That's not the only thing we're going to do, though".

"What will we discuss?" Ash asked. He didn't know what exactly had induced him to ask that question, but he wondered it nonetheless.

"Your name, please?" Mr. Holland asked him.

"Ash" the boy replied. "Ash Ketchum".

"Well, Ash, we will go over the basics of cooking and sewing. Despite what one might say or think, those are not _women's work,_ as it were; everybody has to do those things at some points. We'll go over the basics of how to jump-start a car, as well as other subjects. Really, this class will cover a variety of topics. But yeah, we will mostly make recipes in the kitchen".

"Sweet" Ash replied.

Mr. Holland nodded. "Indeed it is sweet. We won't be making any recipes today; instead, we'll discuss basic safety tips in the kitchen".

Much like the lessons Ash had been in earlier, this one basically devolved into a long lecture about kitchen safety. Once again, the boy found himself hanging on to every word, because he knew that those words might end up saving his very life in the kitchen.

That said, he wasn't enjoying it, not at all. It was taking all of his resolve in order to not zone out of this one.

He would have been lying if he had said that he was not relieved when the lesson was over. At least now he was free to move on to the next class, although, judging by how the last three periods had gone, fourth block wouldn't be any better than the first three.

And then he looked at his schedule, and he realized that not only would it not be any _better,_ it would probably be even _worse._

 _11:15 AM - Physical Education_

 _Fuck. I'm dead meat._

* * *

 **Responses to reviewers:**

 **Amourshipper35: You'll see! :)**

 **Guest: Yeah, I mean Deerling ticks. I've gotten Lyme disease before from deer ticks, and it is not pleasant; thankfully it was caught early. The place my family summers is full of them, so one does need to be very careful.**

 **Opc3: I hope this satisfied your craving.**

 **xXx DIGITAL xXx: Like with Amourshipper35, you will see.**


	9. Ancient History of Sinnoh

**Sorry that this one is so short. As with many of my other chapters that have been shorter than average, I found the places where I ended them to be good places to end them.**

 **Only 150 days until election day, and I'm really excited; it'll be my first time voting. Thank all of you for 2,500+ views, and enjoy.**

* * *

It wasn't that Ash disliked exercise; on the contrary, it had often been possible to find him running around the neighborhood in Twinleaf Town, getting in a good workout. That wasn't the reason he was dreading gym class.

The reason he was dreading it was because he wasn't the most athletic. He had a difficult time in sports that required hand-eye coordination; in dodgeball, for instance, he was typically one of the first players out. In baseball, he was a one-for-ten hitter. And basketball? Forget it.

 _If it's dodgeball, I swear, I am going to embarrass myself so badly that it's not even going to be funny._

Finding the gym was easy. All he had to do was to follow the signs that had been placed on the wall, and they gave him a very simple path indeed. He didn't know if there would be anyone he recognized in this class with him, but he somehow doubted it. It was a fairly large university, after all.

As soon as he entered the gym, he was amazed at what it held.

In addition to being a basketball court, there was a climbing wall in one corner, one that was probably thirty or forty feet tall. In one corner, there were large foam balls in every color of the rainbow, a rack with basketballs, pinnies to identify which team the players were on, and belts with sashes in red and yellow. Exactly what purpose the belts served, he wasn't sure.

"Okay" the teacher said. This teacher was a male Blaziken who stood at more than six feet tall. In addition, his arms were quite burly, suggesting that he worked out a great deal. "I'm Mr. Carroll, and I'm the gym teacher here at Greater Pastoria University. We have a climbing wall here, among other things, and it is my hope that everybody here enjoys the facilities that we have prepared".

 _I certainly will,_ Ash thought. He'd only been rock climbing once or twice in his life, but he knew the basics.

"We will not, however, be rock climbing today" Mr. Carroll said. "Instead, we are going to begin with a classic...dodgeball".

 _Oh, great,_ Ash thought bitterly. _Just like I thought. I'm dead meat._

"You will be divided into two teams", the Blaziken told them. "Which have already been chosen".

Some of the other students, whom Ash could see included Serena ( _She's in this class as well? Wow, it's a small school, I guess)_ , audibly sighed in response. Clearly, they had been wanting to pick their best friends to be on their team, or those they perceived to be good players.

Mr. Carroll went through the list of names, most of which Ash didn't recognize. He did notice that he was placed on the opposite team as Serena, which was something that gave him mixed feelings.

 _Do I want to play against her as an enemy?_

 _Ooh, another admission of LOVE. You're in love with her, aren't you?_

 _No!_ , Ash thought desperately, but his mind wouldn't listen. His mind started chanting that he was in love, and that nothing was going to change that, but Ash couldn't stand to listen.

In order to distract himself, he took a spot on his side of the gym. He saw that Serena was staring aggressively at him, like a Houndoom about to pounce on a Vulpix.

 _She sees me as prey,_ Ash thought. _I'm still dead meat._

Soon enough, Mr. Carroll blew his whistle, and the game had begun.

Ash's strategy in dodgeball was typically to focus on evading rather than attacking. He wasn't a very good thrower, and, besides, someone from the other side might catch it, in which case he would be out. He generally only got aggressive when he was one of the last few players left on his side.

It didn't take long, this time, for that to become the case. Despite his teammates' best efforts, it wasn't long until most of them had been eliminated from the field of play, taking seats on the bench to the side.

Now, it was just Ash and a tan, brown-haired boy with him. This boy was a couple of inches taller than Ash, and he definitely looked stronger and more athletic.

"I've got this" the boy said. "I'm going to get the last three on that team. You just run and try to avoid the balls. Got that?"

Ash nodded, running as quickly as he could away from the line of fire.

It didn't work.

Halfway across the gym, one of the balls that had been thrown managed to nick Ash in the side. It didn't come into contact with a very large part of his body; however, that was still enough for him to be out.

Ash took his seat on the side of the gym and waited for the match to finish.

This tan boy was _really_ good at the game. Within a minute of Ash being put out of the game, the tan boy was able to catch two balls, putting two of the three remaining players on the other team out of the game.

Now, it was just this boy versus some girl on the other team. The boy stepped closer to the line, clearly trying to intimidate the girl. Undaunted, the girl threw a ball at the boy, who was able to get out of the way at the last moment.

"I'll get you!" the boy responded loudly, making moves to get away from the girl. One thing was clear: He wasn't going to take losing this game lying down. He was going to fight like hell in order to win.

It wasn't long until the boy was able to hit the girl with a red ball, meaning that his team won the game. He went back to the rest of the team and high-fived all of them.

"Nice one, Brock!" Mr. Carroll said. "That was quite impressive. You just beat the last three of them all on your own".

"It was nothing" Brock replied. "I eat guys like them for breakfast".

The members of Brock's team, including Ash, laughed, but the losing team did _not_ laugh. This wasn't surprising, but it did show just how hard they were taking losing.

There were two more games of dodgeball played that period, and, in both of them, Brock was able to lead the team to victory. Ash felt like asking the tan boy his secret, but he didn't think that would get him anywhere.

 _Besides,_ he thought, _is that really something he would tell me? I feel like it might not be._

After gym was over, Ash was sweating a great deal. Unfortunately, there were no showers nearby, at least not that he could tell, but he decided that that was all right. He could shower when he got home, and he would no longer be sticky with sweat after a while, anyway.

He went over to the cafeteria, which was a fairly large room that took some effort in order to find. Once he had found it, however, he was amazed that he hadn't been able to see it before.

Really, it was almost impossible to miss. With the icon being a fork and knife, the usual symbol for dining, it was pretty obvious what it was.

Ash grabbed a plate and looked over what there was to eat. There must have been dozens of options: spaghetti piled high with meatballs, pizza so greasy that you could practically feel your arteries clogging as you were eating it, fried chicken and potatoes, sandwiches with all the fixings, hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit tarts….the list went on and on.

After deciding that he'd get a sandwich on a baguette with some vegetables on it, he found a table with Dawn, Lucas, and Serena were sitting. He decided to join them, because that just seemed like the logical thing to do.

"Hey, Ash" Lucas said, sounding rather indifferent to the fact that his friend had just joined the table.

That made Ash feel a little insulted. _He doesn't want to sit next to me? Or is he just not excited about it? Either way…_

"Hey, Lucas. Hey, Dawn. Hey, Serena" Ash replied, sitting down next to the rest of them.

The food was pretty good; not the best he'd ever tasted, but it was very far from being the worst. As he ate, Ash listened in on the conversation taking place between Lucas, Dawn, and Serena.

"So...there's a nature retreat here a couple of weeks from now" Dawn said eventually, taking a bite of pizza.

"Really?" Ash asked. "That sounds pretty cool".

"Yeah. We're going to be staying in cabins, and they'll have all sorts of fun activities there. It's going to be a very good time indeed".

"What kinds of activities?" Serena asked.

"There will be rock climbing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, ziplining...yeah, it's going to be pretty amazing. Those are all things I quite enjoy".

"I'm not surprised" Lucas replied. "You've always seemed quite outdoorsy to me".

"Thanks" Dawn said. "Yeah, I really am. I'm just hoping that the weather cooperates, because I don't know how much I would enjoy it in the rain".

"How much does it cost?" Ash asked. He knew that such trips were not cheap, and he didn't particularly want to know, but he'd asked because...he just wanted to ask.

"It's two hundred and fifty dollars per person" Dawn replied.

"Then that's no problem" Serena said. "You know that my parents will be able to foot the bill for all four of us. As for permission slips, we are all eighteen, aren't we?"

Dawn, Lucas, and Ash all nodded.

"Then we don't need our parents to sign them. We can do all of that ourselves. And, like I said, my parents can pay it".

At first, Ash felt bad for all of the students here who would not be able to afford to go on the trip, at all that they would be missing out on. Then, he realized that, if one couldn't afford to go on the trip, they probably couldn't afford to go to this school.

After all, Greater Pastoria University was expensive. Many students were only able to go on account of the fact that they had a scholarship. Otherwise, the student population would have been a lot smaller than it was.

For a while, they just ate their food, and nobody talked too much. Eventually, Lucas was the one to break the silence.

"We've got two periods left" he said. "Just Ancient History of Sinnoh and Creative Writing for me".

Ash looked at Lucas, wide-eyed. "Are you kidding?"

The boy in the beret looked confused. "No, I'm not. What makes you say that?"

"Because that's exactly what I have" Ash replied. "Ancient History of Sinnoh, then Creative Writing".

"I've got Ancient History of Sinnoh", Serena said, "for fifth period. But I don't have creative writing for sixth. I guess we've got three of us together; that's pretty nice".

"It is" Lucas said.

Ash became aware of just how much he enjoyed these people. Yeah, he'd known them for less than a week, but he already felt close to them. He already felt a connection to them that he rarely felt for others.

It wasn't that Ash was antisocial, far from it. However, he often didn't enjoy talking to others in person as much as most other people did. It just wasn't something that he liked to do.

Eventually, the clock hit three minutes to one. "We should probably get going" Serena said. "I don't have classes with any of you, but I'll see you at my car at 3:03. You got that?"

 _Wow, I guess Serena really likes to be exact,_ Ash thought. _If she thinks that she has to schedule her life down to the minute...can't say I blame her. A girl that hot has got to be really busy socially._

And there it was again: At the slightest mental admission from Ash that Serena was attractive, his mind was once again hounding him for it. As he walked to his next class, he tried to get his mind off of it, but it just wasn't working.

 _Well, it's not as though I'm going to date her,_ he told himself. _I'm just saying, she looks quite good. I can see why someone would WANT to date her._

He arrived in his Ancient History of Sinnoh class, where he found that an elderly man was the teacher. He looked so old that he should have retired, but Ash respected his decision to continue teaching. One had to admit, even if they didn't agree with him staying on this long, that it was quite impressive of him.

The man was of average height, with a long, thin face and glasses. His gray hair was very thin and non-existent in places. He was probably in his late seventies, but it was hard to tell for sure.

"Hello", he said to the class. "My name is Mr. Lucas, and I'm the teacher of Ancient History of Sinnoh. In this class, you will learn about our great region's history, including the many centuries of war that occurred before we arrived here. As all of you know, you are lucky to be alive today; many generations of teenagers did not live to be your age before they were conscripted into military service. In fact…".

Mr. Lucas droned on and on. Even though his last name was the same of one of our protagonists' first names, said protagonist was lying back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. In Ash's opinion, that _screamed,_ "I'm not interested!"

It was so boring that, at one point, Ash found himself closing his eyes. He opened them quickly, not wanting to doze off here. As difficult as that was made by just how boring the talk was, 'he was determined that he was going to stay awake during the whole of this class period.

After an extremely dull forty-five minutes, Mr. Lucas said, "All right. Class is dismissed for today. Homework is to write one thousand words on what I just told you".

Ash had zoned out so totally that he didn't know if he could have written a _hundred_ words. That was the point he was at. As much as he hoped he'd be able to get help from Lucas or Dawn on it, there was no evidence that either had been paying any more attention.

 _All three of us are in dire straits, homework-wise,_ Ash thought. _I'd be lucky to make it through all of this work before tomorrow. But I have to. I just have to._

The next day was going to be a nightmare. And it was only just beginning.

* * *

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Amourshipper35: I hope you enjoyed the second half of Ash's first day of school. And yeah, he does get a lot of exercise; he just doesn't like organized gym class. At least, not in this story.**

 **Guest: Well, you got Brock. :)**

 **Opc3: Well, you'll have to see.**


	10. Homework Woes

**Tomorrow is my 18th birthday, and I'm very much looking forward to it. Signing my own permission slip today was one of the proudest moments of my life, realizing that hey, I will legally be an adult starting at midnight tomorrow. (Although I was technically born at 9:01 AM, but I digress). Going to spend the night with my father and brother, and we're going to order some sushi. Hoping I get a Nintendo Switch, as that is what I asked for.**

 **In other news, I will be starting an internship over the summer. I'll finally have a resume to tout when I apply for colleges, and I'm proud of that. I'm glad that I'm finally taking the initiative on something in my life, you know? I am kind of a passive person.**

 **In any case, enjoy the longest chapter so far of Captain's Daughter, clocking in at roughly 4,500 words.**

* * *

Compared to the lessons he'd had before, Creative Writing was pretty painless for Ash. He hadn't thought he would enjoy it very much, since he wasn't too much of a writer. That said, he'd had more fun than he could have expected; at least, he didn't feel like gouging his eyes out from boredom.

The teacher, a man named Mr. Keating, had mostly allowed the students to get a laptop and write whatever they liked; after all, that was the name of the class. Ash tried to find something to write about something he enjoyed, but he ended up writing just about how sad he was to be missing home.

He wasn't as homesick as he had once been, that was for sure. Even so, whenever he thought of his parents, tears started to form in his eyes, and he had to fight the urge to cry, a task that was not easy in the least.

 _It'll be fine,_ he told himself. _I've only been in Pastoria City for a few days. Eventually, I'm going to get used to it._

The question was, just how long would it take? How long would it be until he could think of his parents once more without coming within a hair of crying?

 _It'll happen when it happens. Clearly not yet. But in the meantime, I have people to distract myself with._

Indeed he did; he was impressed with what he had seen of Brock in gym class, just how athletic the boy was. Ash had wanted to ask him his secret, but, unfortunately, he hadn't seen Brock in any classes of his at this point. There really was no way of knowing where he was.

 _Whatever,_ he thought. _I'll see him when I see him, and I'll ask him his secret at how he's just so athletic. Because you know that he must have SOMETHING up his sleeve._

As soon as the bell rang for dismissal, Ash was the very first one out of the classroom. He remembered what Serena had said about meeting her and the rest of them at the front of the school at 3:03 PM. He didn't want to be late.

 _And why don't I want to be late?,_ he asked himself.

 _Maybe,_ one part of his mind said, _it's because you're in love with her, and you just don't want to admit it._

 _Impossible,_ another part said. _Ash, you know that you've never been romantically interested in anybody. Why would that start now?_

He really hoped that he was being honest with himself; sometimes, he felt as though he had reason to question his own judgment. Was this one of those times?

"Ash!"

The young man turned to find that Serena was beckoning for him. Dawn and Lucas were standing next to her and her car, about to get in.

"Coming!" he replied. "Sorry I didn't notice you guys sooner".

"It's no problem" Serena replied. "We're just ready to go. Are you?"

"I sure am" Ash said in response. He wasn't so much looking forward to being away from school as being able to finally get started on the hill of homework he had been assigned.

"Great" Serena replied. "Let's get going, then".

Since Lucas had already taken shotgun, Ash sat in the back, next to Dawn. Most of the first few minutes of the ride passed in silence.

Eventually, Ash decided to ask, "Are we taking you guys home first or what?"

Serena shook her head. "No, we're all heading to my place. Dawn and Lucas are going to have dinner with us, but then they're going to head back to their own houses. How does that sound?"

Ash shrugged. "I've got no problem with that" he said.

Already, his mouth was watering at the prospect of another home-cooked meal made by Chef Blumiere. It didn't matter what sort of dish he was making, that man seemed to have a golden touch for any kind of food.

Eventually, the car pulled into the driveway of the Courtland mansion, and our four heroes got out.

"I have a mountain of homework to do" Ash groaned. "I can't believe my professors assigned me so much".

"Me too" Lucas replied. "I'll probably be working at it right until dinnertime".

Dawn and Serena both looked at each other, as if to say, _Boys…_

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Lucas protested, holding both of his hands in the air like a suspect being apprehended by the police. "I really wish that I could spend more time with you guys. I do. It's just that homework is such a problem; there's so much of it, I can't believe…".

"Well, you'll have the rest of the year to hang with us", Serena said. "Really, it's no problem. I get it. Enjoy your work".

The way the girl said it, it sounded almost as though she had intended to be making fun of both boys. Ash was pretty sure she hadn't meant it that way, but it was impossible to know for sure.

He held his head down as he walked into the mansion. _Time to get cranking._

* * *

After an hour, Ash felt as though he was getting nowhere fast. The air conditioning had not been turned on, causing him to sweat a great deal.

Next to him at the table, Lucas appeared equally frustrated with his work. As it turned out, he'd only been assigned slightly less than Ash... _very_ slightly less. The way things were going, it appeared that neither of them would be done in time for dinner.

 _Well, if I don't finish by dinner, I can always continue it afterwards,_ Ash told himself. He wanted to convince himself that he'd be able to get himself motivated again, but he doubted it. Sometimes, he could focus on one task for a long time, but, as soon as he did something else, it didn't matter how long he'd been focused on the previous task - he was once more having trouble focusing.

He was researching the properties of those two elements, Zexonyte and Wyomium, and he was finding it to be quite a hassle. Ash had never been the best at research papers, and they were challenging him again now.

Next to Ash, Lucas let out a grunt of frustration. It was clear to see that the boy in the beret had had just about all he could take of the work. He stood up from the table.

"Are you giving up?" Ash asked the other boy.

Lucas shook his head. "I'll come back to it later. Maybe soaking in the hot tub will help. Want to come with me?"

Ash looked at the Google Doc he had open, the one containing his assignment. "I don't see why not" he replied. "After all, I'm not making any more progress than you are".

"Actually", Lucas said, "it's really hot out still. Want to go to the lake instead? Maybe invite one of the girls?"

"Which one?" Ash asked, hoping that there was a gleam in his eye that would make it seem almost as though he were making fun of Lucas.

"I suppose both of them could come" the other boy replied. With the dirty look he gave Ash, however, it was clear that Lucas had picked up on the real meaning of his friend's words.

 _He's probably really mad at me,_ Ash realized. _Or maybe he isn't, and just wants me to THINK he's mad at me. You never can tell with Lucas._

"Okay", Ash said, snapping his laptop shut. "No more of this, not for now. Let's go to the lake".

After putting their bathing suits on, they asked both Dawn and Serena, but the former had not brought her bathing suit, while the latter was still studying, so the two boys were the only ones heading to the lake.

"I see that you plan ahead better than your girlfriend" Ash told Lucas as they were walking down there.

"Eh, this is more of an exception than a rule" the other boy replied. "She's sometimes a lot more organized than me. Indeed, usually she is. It's just that today, I was the one on top of things".

"I see" Ash replied. "So I guess that you must have a good relationship".

Almost immediately, Ash realized his mistake. Lucas looked both embarrassed and angry, as though his privacy had been violated...which, Ash supposed, it had been.

"We do" he replied. "But please, don't ask me about it again. I find it kind of personal, you know?"

"I do know" Ash said.

He considered telling Lucas the truth about his feelings for Serena at that moment. He strongly considered it; after all, the other boy had been honest with him.

However, Ash decided that it wasn't worth it. It was very difficult to read Lucas, and, besides, it wasn't as though it was absolutely necessary for him to know. It was much better to make him continue to believe that nothing was wrong, not a single thing.

 _Does he suspect it?,_ Ash wondered. _Does he notice the way I look at Serena? Like, at all? Or is he clueless?_

He shook his head, trying to shake those thoughts out of it. That was no way to think, and, what was more, he didn't need Lucas thinking he was _too_ deep in thought. That would only result in the boy suspecting even more that he had a crush.

Eventually, they arrived at the lake. Ash and Lucas both got on paddleboards and started paddling around the surface of the water, without a care in the world.

Of course, that was an exaggeration. Ash himself was worried about the small mountain of homework he had been assigned, and, what was more, he was very conflicted about Serena.

 _You know what?,_ Ash thought. _I'm not going to be cagey. I'm going to go for broke here. I might as well just let him know._

"Lucas?" he asked, paddling closer to the other boy. "There's something I have to tell you".

"What's that?" the other boy replied, not making eye contact, but rather staring down into the lake, presumably watching to make sure he didn't come into contact with the Tentacruel.

 _Do I just start straight in with it? Or do I beat around the bush a little bit, see if he can guess it?_

 _No. No point in beating around the bush. You wanted to tell him, and you think it's important. Just go right out and say it._

"I have a bit of a crush on Serena" Ash admitted, and he could feel his face turning red as he said so.

Lucas laughed, a pure laugh that was anything but innocent.

"What's so funny?" he asked Lucas, splashing the water with his paddle in the hopes of getting the other boy drenched.

"It's funny", the other boy replied, "because I already knew. I could already guess it".

"What do you mean?" Ash asked. "What makes it so easy for you to tell when someone is in love with someone else?"

"Just...the way they look at them. You really were looking at Serena as though you were in love with her. No matter how much you might have tried to pretend that you weren't attracted to her, it just wasn't going to work".

"I see" Ash replied. "So you knew all along that I had a crush on Serena?"

Lucas smiled smugly, an expression that Ash had never seen on the other boy's face. "Yes, I did. It really wasn't hard for me to tell, either. Like I said, the way you always looked at her, that was a dead giveaway".

Ash nodded, embarrassed. "So you don't look down on me for it?"

Lucas shook his head. "Trust me, I don't. Really, that was what happened when I was first in love with Dawn. Or rather, was first attracted to her. Except that with me, I had to admit it to her straight on. Most embarrassing moment of my life, easily".

Ash smiled. "Sounds like it".

"But now we're a couple, and it's working really well for us. At some point, Ash, you're going to have to confess. Once you do, believe me when I say that it's going to get a lot easier on you".

"Thanks for the tips" Ash replied.

"It's no problem" Lucas said. "Dawn and I, we're no strangers to love. She knows the rules, and so do I".

Ash smiled at that. He didn't know why, but he found that line quite clever, as though he had heard it from somewhere.

"Ah, but never mind that" he continued. "Like I said, tell her when you feel that the time is right. Try to read the situation, and then act accordingly with what you determine is the correct course of action".

"Thanks".

"It's no problem" Lucas replied.

The two of them paddled around the lake for a while longer until they decided to head back. It might have sounded like a good idea to procrastinate for a little while, but the window for doing so was rapidly closing. The sun was starting to sink before long, and it couldn't be more than a couple of hours before it got dark.

The sun's movement through the sky, casting long shadows on the lake, was a stark reminder of the fact that they still had things they needed to get done. Namely, homework.

"This is going to be fun" Ash said sarcastically. "I can't wait until we get back and have to do all of that work".

Lucas chuckled. "Yeah. We probably need to shower before we go to dinner, though, and put on the tunics"

Ash nodded. Even though he didn't think it was necessary to be this fancy at mealtimes, he had no say in the matter, and so he had begrudgingly accepted his new role in the family. The green tunic that he had been tailored for had arrived in a neat cardboard box on the doorstep of the Courtland mansion the next day, ironed out and ready for use. Since then, he'd worn it at every dinner.

It was common custom, Ash had discovered, for the Courtlands to all eat dinner together, but then, once it was time for breakfast or lunch, they would eat separately, all doing their own thing. Since that was a very similar way to how the Ketchums had done things at their home, Ash didn't really have a problem with that.

It was a long walk back to the mansion, and Ash found himself shivering slightly. He realized that, since they were up in the hills, it was bound to get much cooler at night than it had been in the daytime.

"Yeah, it can get cold here at night" Lucas said, as though he could read Ash's mind. "We should have brought towels; I'd thought that we could dry off in the air, but I guess that that just wouldn't work".

"You're right about that" Ash replied. "I really don't see it working".

"Yeah. Combined with...look at all those clouds".

Ash looked up at the sky and saw that dark clouds were gathering over the lake. The sun was still visible, but it was in its own corner of the sky now. It had to be at least six in the afternoon by now.

"It's probably going to rain tonight" Lucas said. "And maybe tomorrow as well".

Ash had been having a good time out on the lake, but, looking up at the clouds, he realized that the current weather conditions were a pretty good metaphor for how he was currently feeling.

He knew that, as soon as he got back to the mansion, the immense burden of all the homework he had been assigned would once again be placed squarely on his shoulders. He'd once again have to focus his powers on the task of cobbling together five hundred words on Zexonyte and Wyomium. He'd once again have to face the Courtland children besides Serena (whom he was finding to be increasingly annoying).

It was going to be a grand old time, that was for sure.

* * *

Once he got back to the mansion, Ash set to work on his homework yet again, but not before taking a quick shower. After checking himself for ticks, he put on the green tunic and sat at his laptop computer, trying to figure something out, until Debbie came in and announced that it was time for dinner.

"Good evening" Mrs. Courtland said, once everyone was seated at the table. "Please, serve yourselves".

Tonight, Chef Blumiere had prepared a chicken dish for the family. It looked rather delectable to Ash, but he wouldn't have needed to look at the dish in order to trust that it was delicious. Instead, he would only have to know that it was made by Chef Blumiere, and that would be all he needed to know.

As Ash dug in, ravenous from having worked so hard and for so long on his homework, Corinne asked Serena what college was like.

"Oh, it's really tiring" the older girl said. "Trust me, there is a _lot_ of homework. But it's worth it; you get to meet so many new people there".

Corinne smiled. "I like meeting new people".

"Well, then you'll like college. At least, that aspect of it".

Turning to Ash, Serena asked, "Are you finding homework to be a huge burden?"

Ash nodded; he saw no reason not to. "Yeah" he said. "My professors are assigning me a ton of it. But let me tell you something. Like your sister says, it's all worth it in the end".

"I sure hope it would be" Sam said in between bites of broccoli. "Because it sure costs a lot of money to".

"We have the money, Sam" Dominick said in a stern, but fatherly, manner. "Don't you worry about that. Your father owns a cruise line, after all".

The 16-year-old boy chuckled, and then Dominick turned to Ash. "How are you liking it here, Ash?" he asked the 19-year-old boy.

Ash weighed the question carefully. On one hand, he was missing home a great deal. Even though he traded e-mails with his parents every night, there was the awesomeness of a home-cooked meal that he was always missing out on. Here, the meals were prepared by a professional chef, but that, in a way, made it feel less precious.

On the other hand, college was a new and exciting frontier for Ash. Meeting new people, going to his classes, while boring at first, was bound to get more exciting as the school year began in earnest. Plus, there were all the cool things he had done here, as well as all of the cool things he was still going to do.

"I'm liking it" Ash replied. "It's pretty cool, and I'm happy that I've been given the opportunity. I like this house, I like these people...it's going well for me".

Dominick nodded before taking another sip of his drink. "Well, I've got to get on a call in a few minutes. I'm going to excuse myself, if that is all right with everyone at this table".

Nobody gave any protest, so Dominick stood up from the table and walked over to the stairs, presumably to head back up to his office.

For a while, the family just continued eating, but Ash had eventually had about enough of it. To him, silence could be fairly awkward, and this was definitely one of those times.

"I'm going to excuse myself as well" Ash said. "I still have a little homework to do, too".

In reality, he still had a _lot_ of homework to do, but downplaying the situation sounded like a good idea. He encountered no opposition as he headed into his room and stripped off his green tunic.

He hated the thing. He didn't care if he let it get dirty or wrinkly, even though Debbie would probably scream at him until he had a seizure if he let that happen. All he knew was that it represented the vanity of Serena's parents, and that was all he needed to know.

After putting on his pajamas, he decided that he might as well continue working on his homework. After all, there was still a great deal of it that he had to do, and now not a lot of time to do it.

 _Should I pull an all-nighter? I'm sure it's not a good harbinger of things to come if I find myself doing that on the VERY. FIRST. NIGHT._

 _No. That's a bad idea, Ash. Don't even think about it._

He'd heard that all-nighters only made it harder for one to focus the next day, because they'd just be so tired. Indeed, with how boring Ancient History of Sinnoh had been earlier, he was positive that it was likely to result in him falling asleep during that class.

Ash had looked at his schedule; he knew that he had Ancient History of Sinnoh again. He was already dreading it; he had already decided that it was his least favorite subject. Ash was one who hated sitting still without anything to do, and that was what the class essentially entailed.

Eventually, he headed back into the kitchen, by which time the others had left the dinner table, in order to continue working on his homework. However, he wasn't feeling in the zone any more than he had before, and he soon had to face head-on whether he would rather work on it now, when he was feeling increasingly exhausted from the eventful day, or in the morning, when he might be rushed.

After a couple minutes of deliberation, Ash decided that he would wait until the morning. He'd already spent quite a lot of time on it today, and, he decided, he had earned a break.

He met Serena in the stairwell. He didn't know why he had decided to walk upstairs, but he found himself moving in that direction for whatever reason.

"Hey" he said, nearly bumping into her.

"Hey, Ash" Serena replied. "What's up? Are you done with your homework yet?"

He shook his head. "I'm going to finish it in the morning" he said, determined that that would be the case.

"Okay" Serena replied. "Just make sure you remember. Because that's happened to me before. I've promised myself that I'd finish my homework in the morning, but then I never did, all because I forgot. Don't let yourself mess up like that".

"I won't" Ash replied. "Don't worry".

And then he remembered what he had told Lucas earlier, that he had a crush on Serena.

 _Is it a good idea to tell her right now?,_ he wondered. _Does it make any sense at all, or is it better to wait? Arceus, can you help me make the right decision?_

But Serena walked past him, and, just like that, Ash had missed his chance. He'd missed his chance to reveal to Serena how he really felt.

 _Don't worry,_ he told himself. _I have nine more months here. There are going to be plenty more chances._

He turned around and headed down the stairs, after standing still there for some time. He headed back into his bedroom, not passing Serena this time.

As soon as he was inside his room, Ash looked at the nightstand, where Coyopa's Pokeball was currently resting. As to what the Pikachu was currently thinking as he was stuck inside the Pokeball, it was anyone's guess.

Ash climbed into bed and closed his eyes. It didn't take long before he fell asleep.

In his dream, he was standing in the middle of what appeared to be a concert hall. A band was playing soft classical music that could cause one's heart to bleed, or so it seemed to Ash, and couples all across the room were dancing with each other.

Ash walked into the group of couples and tried to find someone to dance with. Eventually, he found it.

It was a blonde girl, and he knew immediately whom this blonde girl was. Serena.

He looked at the girl, but she faced him and shook a finger, much like an adult scolding a child for a minor misbehavior. She was wearing a playful expression on her face as she did so, which confused Ash slightly.

After that, she turned around and walked away, leaving Ash to wonder exactly what it all meant.

* * *

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Amourshipper35: Well, you just saw Ash admit it to Lucas. And let me tell you something: Lucas is my real first name. I was named after a restaurant my parents went to when my mother were pregnant with me, true story.**

 **Guest (from Chapter 5): Yes, cocaine is a drug. But the name "Cocaine Mitch" is a reference to Don Blankenship. Look him up. Seriously.**

 **xXx DIGITAL xXx: I don't follow those comics; I'm not really into superheroes, as I prefer characters with some flaws. But I'm glad that you think this story is getting better by the second. Believe me when I say that it's only going to get better from here on out.**


	11. In the Belly of the Beast

**Surprise! I'm back!**

 **I know, I didn't expect to continue writing this, either. However, I realized that there were a lot of good ideas in my outline, ideas that I really wanted to come to fruition. Therefore, it only made sense to keep writing this, because the best way to overcome writer's block, in my opinion, is to plow right through it.**

 **Thank you to everyone who wished me well for my 18th birthday, and let's now get this show on the road!**

* * *

Ash slowly woke up, blinking at the sunlight that was streaming into his bedroom. He held up a hand in order to cover his eyes, because it was just so bright.

The initial annoyance, however, was replaced by confusion.

He wasn't confused about the sun's rays; he, of course, knew everything about it. He was thinking about something completely different.

Ash had been dreaming that he was on the dance floor, and Serena had rejected him...but why? Was there anything in particular that she didn't find... _desirable_ in him?

He shook his head. He didn't want to believe that Serena could be so shallow. She was a lot of things, from what he could tell, but she wasn't that. She was _not_ a stereotypical rich girl, at least not in that regard.

Looking at his bedside table, he decided that he might as well get up. Coyopa was remaining in his Pokeball for now, and that was for the best. Right now, he wanted some time to think on his own; it was nothing against the Pikachu.

As he showered and brushed his teeth, Ash continued to contemplate his dream. Perhaps it meant nothing, perhaps it meant everything in the whole world. Either way, he couldn't keep worrying about it. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen.

 _I have more pressing matters to worry about,_ Ash told himself. _Homework, for one._

He reminded himself that he had not done all of the homework he had been assigned last night, and he resolved that he was going to get some done this morning. After all, he cared about getting good grades. While he didn't know precisely what job he wanted, he knew that the grades he got in college mattered.

Ash got dressed and walked into the kitchen, where Serena was doing the crossword in the newspaper.

"Good morning, Ash" she said as the boy walked in.

"Morning, Serena" Ash replied. "What's up?"  
"Not much" Serena said in response. She was eating a bagel as she was doing the crossword, and a couple of crumbs were getting on the newspaper. Ash decided not to mention that.

The fact that she was writing down letters reminded the boy that he really should be working on his homework. Gritting his teeth, he walked over to his backpack and took out his assignment.

"You're doing homework?" Serena asked him.

"I kind of have to" he replied. "I didn't do all of it last night".

"Oh, yeah. I remember now".

Ash gritted his teeth again and began working on his Zexonyte and Wyomium essay again. This wasn't a fun job, because he was still drawing a complete blank on what to write.

At some point, Serena handed him a bagel to munch on, and Ash did so. He still, after all, needed to eat, even if he was going to be yelled at so much that he died of a heart attack.

It tasted like cardboard.

Once Ash had spent half an hour working on his essay, which he felt he was doing a very poor job at, Serena said, "Okay, Ash. Let's get going; we still have to pick up Lucas and Dawn".

Reluctantly, Ash looked up at Serena. She was already carrying her backpack, sending the signal that she was ready to go. As he looked around the room, he saw that Sam, Bella, Patrick, and Corinne were also eating at a nearby table. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed them having a conversation together, but that might have simply been due to the fact that he'd been focusing on the work.

 _I'm going to get an F on my paper,_ Ash thought, _D at best. But I have to have something to turn in, or else I might get a detention. And I really don't want that!_

Indeed, he didn't. He was pretty sure that, in detention, you weren't allowed to work on any of your homework; you just had to sit there and wait for it to be over. At least, that was how it had been at his high school.

He followed Serena to her car. This time, however, she said something that he hadn't been expecting.

"I want you to drive today" she said.

Ash's eyes widened. "You want me to drive?"

She nodded. "I figure that it'll be good practice for you. After all, you do want your license eventually, do you not?"

"Yes", Ash replied, "although I don't know if I feel comfortable on all of these winding roads".

"You'll be fine" Serena replied. "Just be careful, and I'll tell you where to go so that it's less crowded. You do have your permit, right?"

Ash nodded. He always kept his Class D learner's permit in a wallet in his backpack; that way, he would never lose it. That method had served him well thus far, and he saw no reason for it to fail in the future.

"All right, then. Back us out".

Ash felt very nervous driving in this unfamiliar place. In Twinleaf Town, he'd gotten instruction, both from his parents and from a professional driver, but he didn't feel quite as confident being in the car with Serena, perhaps because he didn't know her quite as well.

 _I know her well enough,_ he told himself. _At one point, I didn't know my driving instructor well, either._

Yes...that was a good way to comfort himself. Taking one look at Serena, he knew that she was going to hold firm to this. No matter what, she was going to make him drive to pick up Lucas and Dawn.

 _Curse you, Serena,_ he thought as he got into the driver's seat. As he started the car, he thought about how he'd already been stressed out, very much so, by the massive mountain of work he had. Being forced to drive to the university wasn't going to help matters.

On the other hand...he knew that he could use the practice. He did, after all, want to get his license someday. He might as well go along with Serena's wishes.

After starting the engine, he allowed the blonde girl to tell him how to back out of the driveway. That took a while, mainly because Ash was a very tentative driver, always hesitant to go too fast. Eventually, however, they were on the road, and he was going twenty-five miles an hour.

Even though he'd been driven there before, Ash didn't have the slightest idea on how to get to Lucas's house. Serena had to guide him, telling him which lane to be in in order to turn in the right direction.

 _Was making me drive really necessary?,_ he wondered as he was driving down a long, narrow road. _What did it accomplish, really?_

Eventually, they got to the house that Ash knew belonged to Lucas. The boy in the beret was already waiting on the front steps, head in his hands. He looked exhausted; perhaps he hadn't gotten too much sleep the night before.

"Morning" Serena said to Lucas.

At the sight of her, the boy outside the car smiled. "Hey. Ash, you're driving!"

"Yeah" Ash replied. "I am".

"I insisted that he did it. He has his learner's permit, and he needs the practice. You're fine with that, right?"

"I am" Lucas said. "I don't even have my permit myself; I haven't even gone to a parking lot or anything like that. I've never been behind the wheel even once".

"Well, there's a first time for everything" Ash joked. "Maybe you can drive us on the way back".

Lucas snorted. "Fat chance of that".

Serena smiled. "All right. Let's pick up Dawn, and then head to GPU. Did you do all your homework last night, Lucas?"

The way Serena said that, she made it sound like Lucas was her ten-year-old son, rather than a nineteen-year-old fellow college student. Ash knew she was just teasing, though, and it was quite funny to see the cheeks of the other boy turn red.

"No" Lucas replied. "I'm 117 words short on my Zexonyte essay".

"Join the club" Ash said. "That's exactly what I didn't finish, too".

"Well", the boy in the beret said, "we'll probably be in detention together, then. At least there's the _together_ part".

Ash chuckled. "Way to look on the bright side, Lucas".

The other boy smiled. "Thanks. Now let's go pick up Dawn. I don't want to be late".

Ash drove them to Dawn's house, still following instructions from Serena. Since Lucas was sitting in the back, it was harder for him to see where they were going, and he was thus of far less help.

Eventually, they did make it to her house. They had to honk the horn before Dawn came out, also looking tired, but not to the same extent that her boyfriend did.

"Ash is driving?" she asked, sounding very surprised indeed. Of course, that was probably because she _was_ indeed surprised.

"Yes, I am" the aforementioned boy responded. "Serena made me".

"That I did" the blonde girl said. "Just figured he could use a little more practice".

The rest of the trip to the university passed mostly incident-free. Ash was still scared every time he had to stop, but that was mainly due to the general anxiety he had always had with regards to driving.

It wasn't long until they entered the gates of the university, and then Serena told him where to park. Ash did so, albeit slowly, and they were a couple of minutes later to the school than they had been yesterday.

"We should probably hurry up to our classes" Dawn said. "Are we meeting back here at 3:03 again?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me" her boyfriend replied. "Serena? Ash? You guys cool with that?"

After both of them nodded, Lucas and Dawn left to head to their classes, and Ash was standing alone with Serena.

 _Is now my chance?,_ he wondered. _Is now the time that I confess to Serena that I am attracted to her?_

Somehow, he didn't think that would be a good idea. He decided he was going to wait until another opportunity struck. _But would it, even?_

* * *

Ash stood at his locker, looking over his schedule for the day. Some of the subjects on the list were those he was already dreading, and seeing them written down didn't make him any more eager to attend said lessons.

 _8:00 AM - Arrival_

 _8:15 AM - Creative Writing_

 _9:15 AM - Mathematics_

 _10:15 AM - Pokemon Biology_

 _11:15 AM - Physical Education_

 _12:15 PM - Lunch_

 _1:00 PM - Home Economics_

 _2:00 PM - Ancient History of Sinnoh_

 _3:00 PM - Dismissal_

As he looked at his schedule at large, he saw that his last lesson on one day would be the first on the next day. Everything else would be in the same order as usual, just at different times.

 _First up is Creative Writing,_ Ash thought. _Hopefully it goes well, because, if it doesn't...well, at least it's going to be fairly easy. Maybe, under the guise of doing writing for the class, I can get some work done on the Zexonyte essay._

Indeed, once he was in the class, that was what he tried to do. As the teacher, Mr. Keating, looked around the room, Ash switched his Google Doc from the one on which he had been writing his creative piece to the one in which he was working on the essay. He'd take time to sneak in five or ten words here or there, when Mr. Keating wasn't looking.

By the time the class was over, he'd finished his essay. The thing was barely coherent, and, were he the professor, he would have given it a D, or maybe a C at best. Even so, it was better to have something to turn in as opposed to nothing at all.

Even though he hadn't done too much of what Mr. Keating would have wanted him to do, Ash walked out of class still considering it a victory. That was one less thing he had to worry about, although his joy with regards to the Zexonyte and Wyomium essay was short-lived.

 _Fuck. I still have a thousand words for Mr. Lucas, on what he told me about ancient history of Sinnoh._

Now, he was well and truly snookered. He couldn't think of any time at all that he could use to work on _that_ essay. And the stakes were very high indeed - the history teacher was most likely a very strict man, from what he had seen of him, and it wasn't likely that he'd simply let Ash off the hook.

 _If I don't turn it in, I'll probably get detention. If I get detention, how is Serena going to know that? I guess Dawn will, though._

His mind was already going a mile a minute before he arrived at Mathematics. Professor Vinaka was standing in front of the class, clearly looking forward to receiving homework from the students.

 _I didn't do it,_ Ash thought. _At least, I didn't finish it. She's not going to be happy with me...but is she going to put me in detention?_

As the Lucario professor passed by, Ash held out his worksheet, and Professor Vinaka took it without a word. At first, Ash was relieved. That probably meant that Vinaka wasn't going to give him detention after all.

 _All right. Let's hope that I don't get in trouble with Mr. Lucas, then._

But then he realized that he was likely to get a bad grade on the assignment, so he wasn't quite as happy.

For the rest of the lesson, Ash made sure to focus, and to hang on to every single word Professor Vinaka was saying. He knew that, if he was caught staring off into space, or otherwise not paying attention, he might get in trouble, and that was something he owed to Serena not to do.

Eventually, they were dismissed from the class, and Ash moved on to the next one, which was Pokemon Biology. The entire time, he was wondering if he might get a C instead of a D on his paper, but he figured that it was unlikely.

Even so, it was better than not having a paper to turn in at all. Unfortunately, that led him to begin thinking about Ancient History of Sinnoh, something that he was very much dreading...


End file.
